


It Takes the Whole Moby Dick…

by JuHuaTai



Series: A/B/O AU [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Attempt at Humor, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Multi, Semi-Canon Compliant, just a bit though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-04-04 18:24:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14026023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuHuaTai/pseuds/JuHuaTai
Summary: …to raise Marco’s blood pressure, Ace’s already ginormous appetite, and everything in between that needs raising. But then after over 20 years of sailing and facing off various enemies and marines, a baby would be no different than all of the adventures the ship has seen.It sure would be the longest, most arduous and yet the most rewarding one, as everyone on board can testify.





	1. 3rd Division Commander, 'Diamond' Jozu

**Author's Note:**

> I got two main request from the last fic, which are ‘where are the others’ reaction’ and ‘i wanna see them with kids/going to have kids’. I myself also have a wish that grew from one of my other finished fics called ‘I wanna write about a couple entirely from other people’s perspective, maybe even multiple of them’. So i thought, why not all of them? This is either gonna be great and fun… or it’s going to crash and burn. 
> 
> And since one of my fics are going to ah, ahem- end *soon*, i feel like it should be fine for me to post another long chaptered fic. Right?
> 
> (BTW, maybe before we will go deeper, this may need to be addressed. You're not required to read a fic. I know from reading the previous fic's comments that there will be thing(s) in this fic that not everybody liked and i respect that. And as thus, i highly encourage you to not read. I write because this is a stress relief and a pleasure, and though i enjoy sharing my writing, i understand that it's not always going to be something good or something everyone will like etc etc etc. In the end, i can only be thankful that you have all been generous with me despite my shortcomings and i hope i can continue to give you some entertainment in different titles and fics. 
> 
> And with that being said, hope you'd enjoy!)

 

Something is up with Ace.

 

Of course, the person himself didn’t seem to notice, nor does it seem like everyone else around him did, and it was honestly not surprising considering that Jozu had only picked up on it after he was talking to Ace in a close proximity over a list of chores their division would be doing together, and his face had been a few centimetres away from the young Omega’s hair. He caught a single whiff of it in the middle of conversation, stopped mid-sentence, and frowned.

 

2 weeks has passed since the entire fiasco of his presenting - and subsequently, his bonding with Marco, which has surprised approximately no one - and to this moment and probably his entire life, Jozu would keep it to himself that he could still remembered the unforgettable scent of a new, unbonded Omega. Though his instincts could not help it, his own morals and a part of his Alpha side that acknowledged Marco as family and trusted ally told him to stay away, reminding himself constantly that Ace has been claimed by said family member and that he approved of this bond. Then again, he didn’t think anyone in the ship would be crazy enough to ever challenge that.

 

But he’s digressing. The fact remains that he still remembered what Ace’s scent now smells like.

 

And despite the suppressant he knows the younger has to use now, sometimes some pheromones could leak out and he knows that what he smelled wasn’t quite right.

 

Haruta, the one who had spent more time around Ace’s room during his heat to deliver food and make rounds to send out chores and paperwork for Marco, had described the smell as melted ice cream and chocolate dipping on top of burnt s’mores, and that would be the description Jozu would use due to his own lack of ability to put it all into words. It was gentle and creamy, decadent with a pinch of something dark to balance the entire underlying teeth-rotting sweetness underneath it all. Thatch had even suggested that it smelled like a famous, scrumptious South Blue dessert, but then he’s the cook, not Jozu. Jozu hardly even knew what he meant.

 

Yet right now, only inches away from Ace, he smelled something different. The underlying ’s’mores-like scent’ was still there, but there was something else underneath it all, something earthy and dense, unlike his own airy sweetness, like how their ship will smell like after it had rained. It wasn’t uninviting, and almost strangely soothing that Jozu had to remind himself that he’s in the middle of the open deck and surrounded by a lot of people.

 

“Jozu?” Ace called out in confusion, bringing him out of his reverie, “Is… everything okay? You seem lost in thought there,”

 

The diamond paramecia opened his eyes - when had he closed them? - and looked down to find the dark haired youth staring up at him. He cleared his throat, taking a step back and briefly catching sight of the plaster patch that covers the bond mark behind Ace’s neck, partially covered by his hair, “Did you use a perfume or something?” he asked, absurd as it feels to. No one in this goddamn ship ever cares about that other than Izou, “You smelled different,”

 

Ace frowned in confusion, before lifting one of his arm and sniffed his own armpit. Jozu sighed, “That’s not what i… never mind,”

 

“Then i’m not sure what you mean, sorry,” The younger cocked his head, humming briefly, “Marco said the same thing this morning actually. Then he was nagging me about forgetting to take suppressants since he could smell me and all, even after i told him i already did,”

 

He didn’t think this was caused by the lack of suppressant either, or else, other people would’ve mentioned it. 

 

Still, something about that underlying scent was familiar. It felt like an addition of scent instead of a change, because Jozu could’ve sworn he recognized it. 

 

He left it in the back of his mind, thinking of it merely as an anomaly and continued on working. Once or twice, he saw signs of some of the Alpha crew member picking up on the change as well, not because they chose to comment on it but because some has taken it to themselves to be unnecessarily close to the young commander. They seemed just as confused as he was, with one tactless Alpha even openly sniffing the air around Ace until Jozu silently glared at him to back down, and through it all, the Omega either ignored them or didn’t seem to realize it at all.

 

“Ace,”

 

Again, Jozu was pulled out of his reverie, and looked up to find Marco frowning unpleasantly at him, at his mate and at the distance between them. The large man would’ve rolled his eyes if he could, but he refrained from doing so - openly, anyway - and took a step back. Some Alphas can’t help but be protective of their Omegas, and said instinct would be heightened in the first few weeks after they established a bond. It’s not rare these days to see Marco skulking about, popping or gliding out of nowhere because an Alpha or some overly affectionate Beta or Omega were too close to Ace. 

 

Jozu understood, even if he feel slightly offended as well. Really, to think that 20 years of friendship and trust can be defeated by a man’s basic instincts. But then again, he’s never has a mate.

 

Ace turned away from Jozu and beamed, his grin stretching from ear to ear. Marco immediately relaxed, all of the previous tenseness in his posture melting away to nothing and Jozu began to form an opinion that maybe it has less to do with an Alpha’s protective instinct and only because his Zoan friend is a sappy bastard, “Oh, Marco! I’m just finishing things up here with Jozu, can you give me a minute?”

 

The blonde nodded silently, leaning against the banister as he did, looking to all the world to be relaxed but Jozu can tell otherwise. He seems tense, almost impatient despite accepting the delay, as if he can’t wait to quickly get away. Though of what, Jozu can’t tell.

 

He turned to Ace instead, who was back to inspecting their list, and asked in a lowered tone, “You two going somewhere?”

 

“Not really,” Ace shrugged, eyes never leaving the list and with his tongue jutting out between his lips in contemplation, “You know how you said i smelled different? Well, Marco wanted me to get checked out by the doctor. Don’t know why, he doesn’t tell me anything,” he paused, frowning slightly, “It can’t be anything serious, can it? I mean, if it has to do with smells, then it has something to do with me being an Omega, right? Ugh, i still don’t get the whole secondary gender thing,”

 

He highly doubt that Ace’s ignorance in basic biology was to blame, when Jozu himself felt puzzled.

 

It was truly curious, because as far as he knew, he had never heard of scents changing. Perhaps veiled, yes, but that would only ever happen during heat and rut, where an Alpha’s pheromones would blanket around the Omega’s scent and vice versa, the entire reason why only Betas like Haruta can get near them. Sometimes the mingled scent would linger for a couple of days after a bond was established, but it’s been 2 weeks so it would’ve weakened to nothingness by then, and the patch on Ace’s neck was designed specially to suppress that. 

 

The only other explanation would be—

 

A little light bulb flickered on in the old noggin’ as Marco strode over to them again, his pace forcibly relaxed but face obviously agitated, “Are you two done yet? You’ve only been talking to each other,”

 

“Geez, and you called me the impatient one,” the raven haired male groused, “Fine, i’m done with my division’s checklist. Here you go, Jozu,”

 

The man took the offered list without even looking, his eyes zeroed in on the retreating couple before he finally blurted out, “So, uh, it’s true then when the guys on shopping duty said they thought they saw you buying post-heat potion back in the island from before?”

 

Marco was not one to lose his composure easily, so the fact that he immediately snapped his head around to face him was surprising. And mighty telling.

 

Meanwhile Ace, clueless as he is, only turned to him questioningly, “What’s a post— Oh! That weird and yucky potion he had me drink after my heat? Yeah, he practically flew out of my room after my heat doesn’t come back for over 2 hours and came back with it,” he turned to Marco then, frowning, “What was that for again? Something about fertility prevention stuff—“

 

“Let’s just go,” ignoring Ace’s protests, Marco pulled him away until the two disappeared to the depths of Moby’s hull. 

 

Jozu watched the two of them go, and finally whistled, “Damn,”

 

* * *

 

He didn’t see either of them again the entire day, not even during dinner. 

 

Well, he saw Marco, but the man had only entered the dining room to pick up 2 plates of food. One with some moderate amount and the other a portion that could only be eaten by a gigantic creature. Or Ace. 

 

He left without interacting with anyone, not even to sit down briefly. Jozu watched him leave in a hurry, and noted the nervous expression on his face.

 

“What was that all about?” Vista muttered next to him over his cup of tea. Jozu shrugged, even though he had an inkling he knows exactly what had happened. 

 

“Who knows, maybe we’ll find out tomorrow,” he told his fellow commander, before digging into his own food and keeping his thoughts to himself. 

 

He’s not really one to gossip, after all.

 

* * *

 

The next day was the start of a new week, and therefore, the start of another Commander meeting. This would be the time each commander will be given their chores for the week and has their performance reviewed briefly, and where they would discuss any news and situations that has arise in the previous week. 

 

A few minutes before the meeting was supposed to start, the diamond paramecia noted that Ace has yet to arrive, which was something of a common occurrence - for reasons such as sleeping in, forgetting about the meeting or just plain having a narcoleptic attack on his way over - but it was less common to see that Marco has yet to arrive as well. Marco, who is the one who gave them their assignments and lead these meetings, and would always be the first one to arrive.

 

He wasn’t the only one who noted this, of course, when Curiel piped up in the next to a drowsy Rakuyo, “I bet they both slept in,”

 

Next to him, Atmos hummed, “Think one of us should go and check?”

 

“Hey, if the meeting doesn’t start in 15 minutes, that means we’re free to go, right?”

 

“You do you, Thatch. I’ll just be waiting here when Marco flings you to the sea for daring to escape,”

 

“Aww, Izou, don’t crash my dream like this,”

 

Izou opened his perfectly painted lips, obviously about to reply when the door was opened and Marco strode in, looking like everything was perfectly fine until he started speaking in a faster tempo than usual, “Ah good, everyone’s here. We can get started,”

 

Haruta looked around, and raised his hand, “Uh, Ace isn’t he—“

 

“Everyone is here,” the blonde spoke a little louder, as if to drown out Haruta’s observation, “No problem as of last week, which is good, and we won’t be arriving in any land for another week so you can continue on with your chores as per usual until further notice. Jozu, good job on planning out to ration our supplies, i just need you to tweak the logistics a little, the details are listed on your papers,” he spoke so rapidly it was rather hard to understand, and he even practically throws said paperworks to his direction, “Vista, i saw your report about the preventing mite infestation and i need you to work together with Fossa and Curiel about it—“

 

As Marco kept making his rounds and giving his explanations and reviews in abnormal speed, he looked down on his papers. There was indeed a new checklist, probably of the tweaks that Marco mentioned, but he couldn’t help to also notice that he was to work alone with the assistance of the First Division as per needed. He didn’t really mind it, but the last time he worked alone on this task had been during the times when there was no Second Division Commander. Besides, the First Division was solely responsible for navigation and weather, not supplies and crew logistics. 

 

When he looked up and ready to voice this, Marco has already reached Izou and on his way to the front of the room, hands clasped together and face trying so hard to be neutral. He kept glancing to the door as well as he spoke, so fast it was a miracle he didn’t twist or bit his tongue, “Right then, everyone knows what they’re supposed to do? Good. If there’s no more quest—“

 

The door was suddenly slammed open with a bang, and Marco immediately sighed without even looking.

 

Stomping inside of their meeting room with the most displeased expression ever known to mankind was Ace, and if the way he glared a Marco as he made a beeline over to the only empty seat next to Jozu was of any indication, they know who pissed him off so much. He sat down, oddly gently so as he does instead of plopping down carelessly, and crossed his arms as he jutted his lower lips and narrowed his glaring eyes.

 

14 pair of eyes were torn between watching Marco shaking his head despondently and Ace sulking, trying to make sense of this situation until Ace spoke, in a snippy tone, “Where’s my assignment?”

 

Marco sighed again, longer and wearily, “All assignments and task for Second Division will be handled by Second Division members and will be supervised by the First—“

 

“You can sleep on the floor tonight,”

 

“I have my own bed, Ace,”

 

“Yeah, well, guess what i’m going to burn after this,”

 

The blonde commander ran a hand down his face, with the skin on his face contorting weirdly as a result, “Then the floor it is,”

 

Ace’s glare turned even more potent, his teeth clacking together with how hard he bit down. He kicked on an empty barrel, quite alike to the ones some of the room’s inhabitant has been using as chairs and causing it to fall down and broke into splinters. He then stomped away again, not forgetting to slam the door so hard that it fell of the hinges.

 

All eyes that was watching his exit now turned to Marco, who was looking up to the ceiling with an expression that begs for patience, “Please leave,” he finally murmured without looking at them, and after a few moments of hesitation, they all did, with Jozu being the one at the very end. He glanced at Marco as he stood on the doorway - sidestepping the poor, fallen door - noting the rising murmurs in front of him that were basically the start of what he knows will be the beginning of a long and widely travelling gossip chain only disproved once the real truth comes out.

 

The armor-clad man waited until the nearest voice faded in the distance - It was Thatch’s voice saying a sing-song ‘Trouble in paaaradiiiseeee’ - before he spoke, “The potion didn’t work, huh?’

 

If he didn’t know Marco for so long, he would’ve called the voice that came out of his throat a whimper.

 

* * *

 

The Second Division had been understandably confused to know that they won’t be receiving order from their Commander, but apparently a command is a command, and they get right to work. One of them, Masked Deuce, who Jozu recognized to be Ace’s ex-first mate had been the only one who asked, coming up to him during their break, “Where is Ace then? I just saw him stomping about the deck earlier, so he’s not sick,”

 

He will be soon, Jozu thought, but again, he’s not one to gossip, “Not really, but Marco has a good reason to keep him away from his duties at the moment,”

 

The blue-haired man frowned behind his eponymous mask, his lips pulled into a downward curve, “Of course he was the one who caused this,” he commented mildly, and Jozu didn’t really know what to make of his tone, “Isn’t it quite archaic of him to be acting like this? There are plenty of other Omegas in this ship so i know this is not done in general,”

 

Understanding what got the man quite miffed, Jozu found himself not caring for his tone, even if he kind of understand where he was coming from, “Marco’s not like that and he won’t do that to Ace, you know he hadn’t for the last 2 weeks. He just had his reasons now,”

 

The frown on Deuce’s face smoothed out slightly, although what remains turned into confusion, “And that is?”

 

Jozu shrugged, hoping that his face was as neutral as usual, “Who knows,”

 

Ace’s ex-first mate looked at him with full suspicion, but he ignored the Alpha and walked away towards his original destination before he was interrupted; the dining area.

 

As expected of the crew of the strongest man in the seas, the moment he stepped into the large space, not a single word that escaped everyone’s mouth defied from the current hottest topic on board of Moby Dick in the middle of nowhere: the newly bonded Alpha and Omega couple were having a bit of a row.

 

“Like, he burned a hole down the quarterdeck, an actual hole. And Commander Marco just stood there watching him and doing nothing. I was about ready to piss my pants and that guy was just standing there,”

 

“Oof, he’s so mad. What the hell did Commander Marco did to Commander Ace anyway?”

 

“You didn’t know? Second Division wasn’t lead by Commander Ace today, and it looks like the roster for the week doesn’t include him anywhere, with Commander Marco taking over command,”

 

“Oh, what?! Why’d he do that?! I’d take reporting to Commander Ace anytime than to Commander ‘your-writing-is-bad-in-paragraph-5-section-3-so-you-gotta-redo-the-whole-thing’. It’s so stupid, why do we even have to do paperworks anyway, we’re supposed to be pirates, not marines and bureaucrats,”

 

Jozu walked away - also silently agreeing with the last crew member - and made his way over to the counter area to order his food. The queue was unusually disorganized today, with so many people flocking by the lone separator table between the kitchen and the dining area, and as he approached, he understood why. Amongst the raptured crowd was Thatch, arms moving exaggeratedly as he always does whenever he was spinning and weaving an entire gossip full of juicy details, and from personal experiences, Jozu knows that they could either be tales full of truth told in hyperbole or just plain made up speculations told very convincingly.

 

Usually, he couldn’t care less, because as much as he abhorred joining in, he knows that plenty of his _nakama_ enjoyed great gossips and it was one of the way to pass time. However, this time it felt rather personal and more serious than any other time, so he stepped in closer, just in time to hear Thatch say, “—and then Ace was all ‘I’ll burn your bed!’ and Marco was all ‘Fine, i’ll sleep on the floor’,” the crowd gasped, the dramatic lot, and the reaction made Thatch nod rapidly as if he was still trying to convince people that he’s telling the truth, “I know, right?! Unbelievable! It’s like he’s asking to be burned!”

 

“And i think you lot are just asking to be the way you kept talking about them,”

 

The crew members surrounding the table looked warily at each other, while Thatch moved his sight from them to him, “Jozu, do you have any idea what could’ve happened? Like oooh, boy, Ace’s glare give me chills! Or, well, burns!”

 

The larger man rolled his eyes as the cook snickered, ignoring the groans around him, “No, and i don’t think it’s anyone’s business what caused them to fight. It’s actually a bit rude the way you all kept talking about them,”

 

“Oh come on, we’re not harming anyone,” the auburn haired chef insisted, pouting slightly and making Jozu glare at him drily, unamused, “Besides, it’s a little hard to ignore them when they’re literally fighting in front of everyone. Bet they’re still over near Pops’ chair, but no one wanted to check just in case some flames were used,”

 

Come to think of it, it was rather strange to see that it was already 10 minutes into lunch and there has yet to be a mountain of food to be found somewhere on the tables. And if he is right - and he’s pretty sure he is, judging by Marco’s reaction this morning - he’s pretty sure Ace needs food now more than ever. He ordered his lunch from one of 4th division’s staff - since their Commander was still too busy keeping everyone up to date with the latest gossip - and instead of finding a seat and eating there, he brought his plate out, and made his way over to the quarterdeck, where Pops’ seat was located.

 

True to Thatch’s word, both Marco and Ace were there, but instead of fighting like he had said, they were actually locked in quite the intimate embrace. Their mingled silhouette, a telltale sign for Jozu not to take a closer step were swaying gently, distorted by the clouded sun. The paramecia was about to leave them to it when he heard Ace spoke, his voice slightly muffled, “Are we going to tell them?”

 

“Do you want to?” he heard Marco ask, “The doctor said it might be risky these first few months, i want you to take it easy. After we tell everyone, you know there won’t be a moment of silence for us, especially not for you,”

 

Ace hummed, seemingly considering, “Yeah, you have a point. This whole thing is still a bit too much for me to take in, to be honest,” he sighed, his voice going even more muffled that Jozu can barely make out what he was saying. He heard Marco chuckle afterwards, and there was a wet and obvious kissing moment that reminded him that he needs to be somewhere else, preferably far away from this location.

 

“I’m sorry about the way i act,” he heard Marco say again, before he can get too far, “I’m just so worried, i can barely sleep. I’m worried about you, about the future, about this— whole thing, and i kinda lost control of myself a little there,”

 

This time, it was Ace who laughed, a fond melodious tune that drips out affection and once again reminds Jozu that he needs to move away and stand somewhere where he could also stop people from coming over, “When are you not worried? I just know you’re going to be even more overbearing after this,”

 

Marco grumbled, a reluctant agreement. 

 

It sounded to Jozu like he doesn’t quite let go of his ‘worries’ at all, but he found that his blonde friend probably decided to compromise, especially when after lunch, he arrived right next to Ace with a reluctant look on his face and a slumped of a defeated man as he announced in front of his and Ace’s division, “There’s been a revision in your weekly schedule. Second Division, you are no longer required to report to me, but proceed to do so to your Commander as per usual,” he then paused, before continuing, “Of course, if you still want to report to me to lessen your Commander’s workload, you are welcomed to— Ow! Oww, ow, ow, ow, Ace! F-fine, fine, no one reports to me, your Commander will receive all report— Ow! Stop it!”

 

Barely anyone can stop snickering at the sight of their First Division Commander and First Mate wincing at the hand pinching hardly at his side, including Jozu. He masked his amusement in the form of clearing his throat, eyes full of mirth when he saw the proud look on Ace’s face as he extracted his hand away from Marco’s side.

 

As everyone began to disperse and return to their respective duties, Jozu found himself being pulled to the side by Marco, even out of Ace’s sight. He think the Omega probably saw them, but he didn’t seem to react so he probably knows what Marco is doing, “I know you know what’s going on,” his friend said in low volume, understandably trying to keep others from hearing them considering the direction this conversation is going, “I can’t stop him from working, but he promised that at the very least, someone will accompany him aside from me,”

 

“You are being a little overbearing,” he commented, making Marco grumbled ‘not you too’ under his breath. The commander chuckled at his oldest friend, and placed a hand on purple clad shoulder, “I swear i’d look after him. Not just as my own friend and comrade, but also as my old friend’s mate and the bearer of his child,”

 

Marco gave him a smile, genuine, even rather watery and full of emotion, “I still can’t believe it,” he said breathily, not even looking at Jozu anymore but turning to where Ace was a few feet away from them, his eyes so gentle and loving that Jozu can feel himself smiling just by seeing it, “Even after Doctor Amox said it’s happening, it still feels so unreal. I can’t stop thinking the whole day— Shit, i don’t think i’m going to stop thinking about it until it was all over,”

 

“I think as time goes, you’ll have to think about it whether you’d want to or not,”

 

Though it’s probably not necessary to say that; they both know Marco would anyway.

 

When Marco finally left - after making him promise to not tell anyone yet - Jozu made his way over to Ace, who gave him a knowing side smile while still reading the list in his hand, looking extremely proud of himself. He likes to work and fulfil his responsibilities, and Jozu had the feeling that when the time comes for him to really get some rest and not work, the fight between him and Marco will be one no one would miss out on.

 

In the middle of working through their daily list, when everyone else was away from where they were, Ace suddenly spoke up, “I just thought of something,”

 

Jozu placed down the crate he had been lifting, plus the crate that Ace should be carrying as well, in between them before prying it open with his bare hands. He had expected to have to fight for it, since even he knows that it is something that undoubtably should not be done by Ace, but the fire logia barely commented on it, his hand subtly stroking his abdomen when he gave his approval. Jozu came to the conclusion that despite how they both looked on the outside, maybe Marco wasn’t the only one wary and nervous about this situation, “What?”

 

A mischievous smile made its way to the young Omega’s face as he spoke, “How pissed off and annoying do you think Thatch is going to be when he realized he’s not the first person to know that i’m pregnant?”

 

Jozu dropped the crate’s lid and clicked his tongue, “Ah shit,”

 


	2. 4th Division Commander, 'Twin-Blade' Thatch | Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Updates quickly before my boss realized what i'm doing* 
> 
> I hadn’t expected many people being interested due to the nature of this fic but holy crap, thank you for the reception so far! As always, i will do my best!
> 
> Hope you'd enjoy!

It felt strange to hold someone, and know that at the same time, you’re holding two things you’ll love and treasure for your whole life in your arms at the same time. 

 

And yet that is exactly what Marco was feeling. 

 

The sun has risen for a while now and while usually he would wake up along with it, right now he was still lying in bed, one arm pillowed underneath Ace’s head and the other edging on the side of the younger’s naked hips and on his stomach. Falling asleep and waking up next to someone was still something new for him, just like the feeling of having a mate, and before he can get used to both, suddenly something else new is coming into his life, into both of their lives.

 

Marco’s pretty sure that he’s too old to keep getting surprises and excitement like this, but that was something that doesn’t seem to stop coming ever since Ace entered his life.

 

The stomach underneath his hand suddenly shied away from his touch, and he heard Ace took a deep breath, a sign that he was probably waking up. True enough, he could see the dark haired male’s eyelids fluttering underneath his fallen bangs, eyes still foggy from sleep as he squeezed them back shut with a yawn. Marco felt himself smiling when Ace finally stopped shifting around and looked up to meet his gaze, eyes still half lidded and sleepy.

 

And then he immediately shut them close and looked away, before moving closer, his head now against Marco’s collarbone and there’s barely any space between their bodies, “Creeeepy,”

 

The older blonde chuckled, “What is?”

 

“You watching me sleep,” Ace mumbled, his breathing low and hot against Marco’s skin. Yet despite his words, Marco can feel him sneaking his hand down to his own hips and latched it to Marco’s fingers, right above his stomach. They were both quiet, enjoying the silence and this moment of closeness, until Ace spoke again, “Marco?”

 

Marco leaned his head down, breathing in the unsuppressed scent linger around Ace. A suppressant can last a week and would only be renewed then, but the good doctor on their ship had prescribed Ace with a special one which was specific and safe for his condition, which means that now the nurses, who was the one he took the special prescription from, now knows of his condition. Which he was fine with, because he liked their professionalism and trusted them with Pops’ health and eventually Ace’s, but he’d really prefer it if they’d stop swarming and cooing at his mate every time he came to pick up his dosage.

 

It’s his newly mated Alpha instinct, he knows, despite anything that Jozu said.

 

“Yes, Ace?”

 

For a while, Ace didn’t answer, but he was still pressing his and Marco’s hand against his stomach, and the blonde was beginning to get a clear idea of what is in his mind, “Is there really something in there? Something we both made? I still can’t wrap my head around that,”

 

Neither can he. But Doctor Amox is one of the best doctors in Grand Line, the various test he had Ace do was pretty conclusive, and more importantly, he knows that scents don’t lie. And he knows that the moment he caught Ace’s scent change 3 weeks ago that there was no denying it. He splayed his palm flat along Ace’s still muscly and tones abs, though he knows from past knowledge that this won’t last very long. He hoped the younger won’t be too upset about it.

 

He felt Ace pushing his hand again gently, and already Marco wanted to pull away from the fear of suffocating the growing fetus. But he led himself be guided, especially when he felt the same odd hardness that has nothing to do with Ace’s muscles. He let his worry wither in place of awe, the same awe he felt when the doctor showed him the test result, leaving him speechless and letting the doctor explain what the test meant to a very confused Ace. 

 

“I can certainly feel something,”

 

“Really? I don’t feel like anything’s changed,” Ace said with a frown of confusion, or at least, Marco imagined him to be frowning. His voice made it clear that he was.

 

Then the hand went lax, rubbing slightly against the older’s wrist. Marco noticed the gesture and hummed, “What are you thinking about?” Ace didn’t answer him for a while, probably deep in thought, until he pushed away slightly, propping his upper body with one arm and looking down at Marco with his tresses falling down and covering half of his face. Marco resisted the urge to brush them away, when he caught the conflicted expression, “Ace?”

 

“You really want this, right? You really want…this baby?”

 

Marco sat up as well, trying to keep his voice level in the midst of his Alpha internally panicking at his Omega’s distressed scent, mild as they are, and he himself trying to find out where this question come from. They had known about this for 2 weeks, and Ace didn’t show any signs of reacting negatively to this pregnancy at all. 

 

The younger bowed his head down, biting on his lower lips, “I kept thinking these last few days, after the shock went away, you know? And though i still don’t get the things that you and Amox told me or the book explained, i know that this is something that i want. It felt weird now, and i don’t think i’ll ever stop feeling weird about being pregnant, but it’s something we both made. Something that you and i made and they’re going to be ours,” a small, fluttery and shaky smile made its way on his face, but only briefly until he continued, “But then, i remembered about… well, me,”

 

He let one hand back on his now flat stomach, gazing down with a melancholic stare, “This child is going to have Gol D. Roger’s blood. Another descendant. People will hunt them down for that the way they hunt me down during my birth,” the hand on his stomach curled into a fist, “I want to raise them without having to know about their legacy, but i kept feeling anxious, because i found out mine, what prevents them from finding out too?”

 

Ace took in a shaky breath, bottom lips quivering slightly, “And what if the whole world knows? What if they’ll be hated for something they can’t help the way i was? I don’t want to wish that life, that lifelong hate to oneself to anyone, much less my own child. I want to raise them to love themselves, want them to live free, to be in a loving family and have people around them who will love them as they are,” he hunched down even more, and it was then did Marco realized he started crying, “But what if i can’t? What if in my selfishness of wanting to keep them, i’m going to doom them into a terrible life?” 

 

“You won’t,” instantly, Marco surged forward to hold his crying mate, releasing his pheromones both consciously and unconsciously for comfort. He felt Ace leaned against him, and held him closer, “You won’t. They’d be as strong as you, as passionate as you, as free and independent as you, and the world can be against them, but it won’t matter because what will matter to them is the people around them who will love and care for them, the same way you found people who care for you. This child won’t be of anyone else’s blood other than one of Portgas D. Ace and Marco the Phoenix and that’s all that will matter,”

 

The sound of Ace’s hitching breath was muffled against his chest, as Marco felt arms snaking up around his neck, and he circled his own around Ace’s waist, one of them stationary and the other can’t help but to snake around to the flat stomach, gently rubbing with his every word, “And you and i are going to be the best parents for them. We’ll raise them, give them a family and a place to belong, because you and i both know what it was like not to have one and how precious it is to have it, just like how we’ll always give the best for our kid. They’d live their life to the fullest, and for every moment of it, they’d thank you for your ‘selfishness’, because they get to experience everything life has to offer them, both good and bad,”

 

Perhaps he was being too optimistic, when the child he had been describing has even yet to be born, and both he and Ace didn’t have any experience in child-rearing. But family meant everything to him, just like the one Pops gave him, the man who raised him away from a life barely worth living to one that leads him to his family now, of people that he may not be related to, but he loved and would gladly die for. And though this family as well, he was led to the one person he came to love more than life itself and has given him the biggest gift of all: a family of his own.

 

He wanted this child, wanted it and already loved it so badly it hurts. 

 

The arms around Marco’s neck tightened, as he heard Ace sobbed even harder against his chest. He can hardly say anything about it when he felt his own eyes turning teary, so he only pulled Ace even closer.

 

Ace moved to press their foreheads together, his cheeks cold from the tears but there’s a smile on his face, “So we’ll do this together?”

 

Unable to help himself, Marco ducked down and pressed his lips to Ace’s own trembling ones, feeling them giving away easily and pressing closer to his own. Their kiss was affectionate, it was making his head light, so full of joy that he felt like his chest could burst. When they separated, there’s smiles on both of their lips, as Ace whispered what they were both thinking at that time, “We’re having a baby,”

 

Marco pressed another kiss to his lips and pulled him close yet again into a tight but still gentle hug, “We’re having a baby,”

 

* * *

 

Jozu is getting scared of him, he knows. 

 

Thatch had been sending him mind signals for the whole day after all, to let him know how displeased he is with his fellow pirate, and soon the man will buckle down and retreat, leaving Thatch to claim his rightful place once again. 

 

He glared even harder from across the dining table, straining his eyes to the point of making himself dizzy, until Jozu let out a huge sigh. Yes! There it is! The sigh of defe—

 

“Thatch, if you don’t stop staring at me and say what you want, i will punch you,”

 

Alright, not really.

 

“I can’t believe you would do this to me!” he wailed, relishing the way Jozu groaned in annoyance, along with several others around them, “2 weeks! I left for 2 weeks and you stole my place as Ace’s best friend! 

 

The paramecia sighed, making the small and insignificant piece of lettuce on his fork sways by the breeze. He looked ridiculous trying to eat that, in Thatch’s opinion, it’s like watching a bear trying to eat grass or something, “I did not steal anything, now shut up and let me eat in peace,”

 

Alright, of course he wasn’t trying to and honestly he won’t be all that heartbroken if someone did take his place as Ace’s best friend - that’s a goddamn lie, he only lets Marco and that’s only because the two of them are mated now but the rest can meet his swords - but Thatch can tell that something was up before he left and he's certain that whatever it is has escalated after he came back. Jozu’s closeness to Ace was almost protective, and when he expected the young man to push him away due to instinct as a bonded Omega or because he had his space intruded, Ace did none of it. It even looked like he accepted Jozu’s closeness.

 

Even stranger still, Marco didn’t complain about it when Thatch clearly saw him glaring and tossing around other people no matter the gender or secondary gender away from Ace. Somehow Jozu got a special treatment and he needs to know why and how he can get to this exclusive club of not being punted by Marco for being too close to Ace.

 

The pompadoured chef glowered at his fellow Alpha, “Liar, i saw how you’ve been hanging around Ace lately. You’re next to him almost as often as Marco does,” he narrowed his eyes even more, watching as Jozu sighed again, the piece of lettuce still failing to go anywhere near his mouth, “I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to work! I’m his bestie first, so youuuu, mister, can go and find yourself another best friend because i am not giving up my position—“

 

The door to the cafetaria swung open, and the sight of Ace and Marco walking inside hand in hand made him stop. He immediately stood up, almost making the stool he had been sitting on topple down in his haste, and waved at the couple to gain their attention. Oh, how he missed the life back at Moby, and how he missed the little fella, “Ace! Over here!”

 

Ace saw him the moment he stood up, laughing lightly, before turning to Marco and pointed to his direction. The blonde, the killjoy that he is, shook his head in exasperation when he saw him, but eventually nodded, letting Ace lead the way as they made their way over to the table that hosted both Thatch and Jozu, “You’re back,” the dark haired male greeted, taking the seat right next to Thatch. The chef felt like preening in front of Jozu, but Ace was still talking, “How’s your trip, Thatch? Haruta said Izou stopped taking your calls after you complained too much about creepy and dank islands,”

 

“What can i say, it _was_ creepy and dank,” he replied, leaning heavily against Ace as he if oft to do. Before he can continue, however, there was a sudden onslaught of angry, aggressive scent invading his senses, and he looked up to see Marco glaring down at him. Ah, yes, the angry Alpha. Has it not been 2 weeks already? Surely the aggressiveness and protectiveness from bonding would go away by now?

 

Still, Thatch is not about to look for trouble this early in the morning, so he moved away, even reluctantly so. Ace must’ve taken his suppressant already but he smelled really soothing, if slightly changed from what he remembered during that entire fiasco of his presenting. 

 

“What’s that?”

 

At the question, he looked down at the item in his hand that gained Ace’s attention. The auburn haired man grinned, raising it up to eye level for observation, “Cool, isn’t it? I found this on that island i was in!”

 

The people in his division and the ones he had shown it to so far had looked amazed and wowed by his find, but just like Jozu, both Ace and Marco had only looked at it curiously. Which was quite expected, seeing as they had seen and consumed a Devil Fruit before, “Do you know what that is?” the _Mera-Mera no Mi_ user asked, taking the fruit gingerly from him. Marco was watching over his shoulder, with one arm looped around Ace’s waist.

 

“I checked on the dictionary, and apparently, this one is called _Yami-Yami no Mi_ ,”

 

Ace was still peering over the fruit curiously, but behind him, Marco frowned, “That’s… i’ve heard of it. The most evil fruit out of every other Devil Fruit there was,”

 

“Evil?” The only Omega out of the three Alphas questioned, and when Marco pulled the fruit out of his hand and put it back to the table, Thatch saw the small pout on Ace’s lips and the wary look on Marco’s face, as if he wanted to keep the - still unconsumed and therefore harmless, mind - devil fruit away from the young man. Overly protective bastard.

 

“It’s a logia fruit that gives you power over darkness,” the First Division Commander explained, obviously to all of them but the way he was looking at Ace made it look like he was only addressing his fellow commander, “At least, that is the primary description, but some logs noted that they have been observed to also have the power over other devil fruits. Cancelling them being one. Thatch, that fruit might contain power might be beyond our comprehension, you need to think really carefully about what you wanted to do with it,”

 

Well, Thatch obviously realized that since he read up about it, but the way Marco said it made it sound even more daunting, “I know, i’m still considering, but even away from what it does, i don’t think i want to be a Devil Fruit user,”

 

“Aw, why not, it’s pretty awesome, no bias,” Ace grinned at him, and if Marco wasn’t still so obviously staring at him, Thatch would’ve pulled him into a hug. As an Alpha, it was due to the platonic attraction and sense of protectiveness to a younger Omega, and this new change in Ace’s scent certainly doesn’t help. Then again, even before he presented, Thatch always had a special place for his young friend. What lovely guy when he’s not being murderous to their captain, “And it’s also a logia fruit. I rarely ever met one, imagine being in the same ship,”

 

“You can’t swim though,” Jozu reminded from across them, already finishing his lettuce and moving on to other types of vegetables that he decided to be part of his diet today, “That’s always a downfall,”

 

Thatch nodded sagely, “Yeah, and i kinda like swimming. Plus, having a Devil Fruit means i probably won’t need my swords anymore, and i like them and the name they got me! I was lucky enough to be ‘Twin Blade Thatch’, who knows what stupid name the marine can come up with for me,”

 

“Dark Fist Thatch?” Ace joked, lighting up his entire fist with his own devil fruit. 

 

“More like Dark Twin Blade Thatch if he kept insisting on using his swords,” Jozu added, his mouth making a crunching noise when he puts a forkful of pierced vegetables.

 

“Can’t i have a simpler one? Like Jozu’s literally just had Diamond added to his name,”

 

“Dark Thatch sounds even weirder than any of the ones we just said. It sounded like you have an evil twin or something, like Light Thatch and Dark Thatch,”

 

“Then one like Marco is also cool,”

 

“Thatch the Dark doesn’t really—“

 

“Thatch in The Dark, striking fear in the heart of enemies, marines and any brothel attendants,”

 

“Ay, Marco, you wanna fight?!”

 

They continued talking throughout breakfast, mostly asking Thatch of his journey - well, Ace did, Marco and Jozu were just weirdos who were talking lowly between themselves while sometimes looking at Ace - and him telling about the story of how he ended up with the fruit in his hand.

 

Until breakfast ends and he watched with some degree of jealousy when Ace and Jozu walked away together without Marco glaring with the wrath of heavens at them, Thatch can’t help but to feel prickling in the back of his neck, like someone has been watching him the whole time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you all think i'm leaving this a cliffhanger and writing so short on purpose, i swear i am not, but i practically been sleeping in the office and this is my only chance to write and read some. Finally finishing this workload today though with the speed i'm going, so i'll update soon!
> 
> Hope you liked it! 
> 
> Btw i got a question from my friend last time and in case anyone is wondering as well, yeah, 'Amox' is taken from amoxicillin. Ain't i creative.


	3. 4th Division Commander, 'Twin-Blade' Thatch | Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Violence, bodily harm, mild non descriptive gore and the likes. 
> 
> So, i actually already written down an entire rough sketch for this fic, but i’m beginning to get new ideas as well reading your comments (i know, okay, i know, but i can’t help it, you people gave me so many inspirations), and it’s mainly about how i will write this fic. As such, please don’t hesitate to tell me if anything is unclear so i can clear it up (or rewrite in a clearer manner because i know for sure i’m shit at that sometimes) so this can be an enjoyable experience for everyone.
> 
> Starting from this chapter there will involve a serious and big deviation from canon (not that the entire premise of this fic is not already, you know, a MAJOR deviation from canon), so the only reason why i still kept the ‘semi-canon’ tag was because, well, at least the world is canon?
> 
> I’m waffling too much tbh, just get on with the story. 
> 
> Hope you'd enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made extra long because i’m about to be busy for the next couple of days and would hardly be able to update so… Tell me what you think?
> 
> Thank you so much and i hope you liked it!

 

“ _Yami Yami no Mi_ ’s power also give the ability to—“ Thatch let out a huge yawn and he let the book on his hand go to land on his face with a thud. He blinked, seeing the now very close words dancing around his vision, closing and opening his eyes a few times before finally deciding to pick the book up and flopped it down along with the hand that picked it up to the bed.

 

With a groan, the chef turned his head to the side, where the grim purple fruit lay innocently in front of his reading lantern, half shrouded by the darkness as if its power seeped out from he confines of the fruit itself. He flicked the book in his hand away and used the very same hand to pick the mysterious vegetation up, holding it right above his head and turning it around and around in boredom, “Man, no wonder you got such a sinister power, you looked terrifying,”

 

He’s been reading about the devil fruit for hours now and still, he had yet to decide whether or not to eat it. A power to control darkness or the concept around it, which some reported could be made to swallow an entire island, or create a vacuum that seals everything within. There’s even the section that Marco mentioned, in the part where it was said that it could cancel out other Devil Fruit, though the truth of this claim has yet to be proven.

 

In summary, this thing is goddamn strong, and if he eat it, he’d be indispensable to Pops and his brothers.

 

Still, therein lies on problem.

 

“Aah, I don’t wanna be a devil fruit user,” 

 

Great power, schmeat power. You can’t swim, you got weak because of some gem, it all doesn’t seem like an appealing trade off for him. He’s perfectly fine right now with being a devil fruit-less human, and he doesn’t really fancy having his body change around into some sort of a shifting element. Watching Ace fights makes it look really cool, he supposed, but he can’t imagine watching his own body like that. 

 

“Ugh, this is hard,” the commander complained to absolutely no one, tossing the fruit up and down casually. He caught it one last time and held it above his arm, striking a pose half on his side on the bed, “To eat or not to eat! That is the question!”

 

Silence laughed at him. He sighed. He’s probably been thinking too hard.

 

Maybe some walk will do him some good.

 

* * *

 

The seas of Grand Line were rarely perfectly calm, but tonight, it seems that they got one of those nights. The moon were perfectly in sight, uncovered by any shadows of cloud, and he could even see stars twinkling down from the dark blue skies. The top of the crow’s nest was strangely unlit, which would usually means that no one is up there, but the closer he got to the deck, the closer he saw that there is instead a light coming from the bottom of the mast where the next was attached to, obviously the light source for someone on watch tonight. He’s pretty sure that today’s roster said that it was Jiru’s turn.

 

He decided to walk over and say hi, but suddenly, something shifted by his periphery and Thatch quickly looked away from the spot where Jiru was and inspected his surrounding. Was someone still up this late at night? It’s not uncommon, but then he barely saw anyone on his way here from his quarters. After scanning the darkness one last time, Thatch shook his head, convinced that it was a shadow from the railings or something and be on his way.

 

Still, maybe he shouldn’t dismiss the thought just yet. He had been feeling that someone’s been watching him the whole day, and though he was convinced it was Marco tailing him while he tailed Ace and Jozu, it continued on even during dinner, when he was talking to the three of them. It felt rather sinister, and the more he thinks about it, the more he felt goosebumps rising on his skin. 

 

This motion made his hand squeeze gently around the devil fruit in his hand, and Thatch glared at it a little, “Man, i’ve only been feeling like this since i brought you on board. It’s all your fault, isn’t it?” the Alpha accused, and received no reply.

 

Maybe even unconsumed devil fruit had some power on them? It would explain why he felt so hunted and watched, and why his surrounding felt like it was darker than usual. 

 

Above him, on the naked sky, the light from the moon dimmed down when a group of cloud drifted by in front of it, and accompanied by this was a light breeze that blew seemingly only around the exposed part of Thatch’s legs. The pompadoured chef felt his teeth clattering because of the wind - they’re nearing a winter area, he remembered - and tried to ignored the even stronger alarm in his sense that told him that he’s not quite alone.

 

Maybe he’s just being paranoid, that entire island made him paranoid, what with how creepy it was and he brought some of that even back home. Or maybe it’s this stupid fruit who made things gloomy no matter where it is. Maybe the island is all happy and sunshine now and he’s bringing all the gloominess with him because he took this fruit back home.

 

“Oh man, i shouldn’t have—Aaah!”

 

“Shit!”

 

Thatch would deny it to the day he die - which, according to how fast his heart is beating, could be any seconds now - because he does not scream like a little girl. That high pitched noise did not come from him but from the wind that blows all of the sudden around him, probably hitting and going through the piping around Moby’s deck or something that can be easily explained by anything other than that ‘Thatch screamed like a little girl when scared’.

 

He had to deny it, because by the disbelieving grin on Marco’s face, he knew the man would always accuse him of it until his time comes, “You screamed like a little girl,”

 

“Am not!” the chef quickly denied, grumbling when his blonde friend dissolved into giggles that in his opinion, sounded more like a little girl than his scream ever will, “Don’t scare me like that! I thought someone was following me or something, i was tense as all hell!”

 

Marco was still giggling, the bastard, but he slowly calmed down, even though the sight of him wiping his tears made Thatch extremely annoyed, “Who the hell is following you? I’ve been out here for a while and i haven’t seen anyone out here,” he crossed his arms in front of his chest, shifting his weight on one foot, “What are you doing out here this late anyway? It’s not so early you need to prepare breakfast first, is it?”

 

At the question, Thatch sighed, walking over to the mast a few feet away and leaning against it. Coincidentally, he could see a small lantern and a book underneath the same mast, and he looked up to Marco with a quirked brow, “You’ve been out here reading?”

 

“I’m on watch,”

 

“I thought it was Jiru tonight?”

 

“It is, but i traded with him. I got… things in my mind and i can’t sleep,” the blonde sighed, scratching the stubbles that grows on his chin as he looked back up to Thatch, “I asked you first, though. What are you doing out here so late?”

 

The chef sighed despondently, and lifted his hand with the fruit in it to show his friend, “This thing made me can’t sleep,” he admitted, watching as a serious frown overtook Marco’s face. He had been showing wariness to it, though now, Thatch can’t blame him, “Should i eat it? Shouldn’t i? It’s such a big, life changing decision. The last time i need to make a life changing decision was when i had to pick between becoming a pirate under a big, jolly guy who is really nice to me or spend the rest of my life to become a lowly servant for a lazy World Noble,”

 

As he spoke, the chef flicked the small spurt of leaf on the top of the lavender coloured fruit, brushing the texture against his thumb. It was rough, almost jagged, and the surface was nothing like any fruits he had ever seen before. Supposedly it tasted really bad too, according to any devil fruit user he ever came across, but he could tell that by just looking at it.

 

A sigh sounded in front of him, stealing his attention away. Marco ran a hand through his hair, before moving over to the spot near the book and the lantern and sitting back down crossed legged, “There’s no rush in deciding,” the blonde Alpha told him, placing one hand on top of the book on the floor. Thatch couldn’t exactly see the whole cover in the darkness and from where he stood, but he was sure he saw the word ‘health’ and ’child’ on the front title, partially hidden by the man’s hand before Marco placed it on his lap and returned to reading, “You could always keep it around if you want, instead of selling it or eating it,”

 

Huffing, Thatch slid down against the mast, squatting down and leaning his whole weight against the wooden pole, “Yeah, it just felt really important, is all,” he turned, catching his fellow commander’s side profile, “What about you then? You said you can’t sleep,”

 

Marco’s eyes flickered to him and back to the book. The page he’s on was full of text and footnotes, but what stood out amongst them was a diagram of what seems to be a child’s growth progress. What an odd reading selection, “I, uh, i’m in the same boat as you, i guess,” he heard said after a while in mild amusement, “Got something life changing in my hand that made me restless and think too much, so much i can’t sleep,”

 

“What, you found a devil fruit too?”

 

Blue eyes flickered away from crisp, probably new and not often read pages - why do they have a book on child-rearing on board anyway? - while a snort of amusement escaped Marco, “Well, a ‘fruit’ of something,” he chuckled and shook his head, though the humour was lost to Thatch, “That was so bad,”

 

“What is?”

 

But instead of replying, the ship’s first mate only shook his head, still laughing.

 

It was such a strange sight, so much so that Thatch briefly forgot about his own ordeal. He thought the inability to sleep would’ve made someone tired and cranky, but Marco seems to be the other way around. In fact, Thatch was sure he had been in a rather good mood these last couple of days, sometimes smiling without any reason to and seemingly trapped in his own world. The only reason why there’s not many people who would notice these subtle changes was that majority of the time, the blonde was too busy staring and glaring at people coming within Ace’s proximity and clinging himself by the young logia’s side like a unshakeable limpet.

 

Maybe it was still the effect of their bonding, but it’s been a month since then when he’s pretty sure other Alpha and Omega couples he had seen - or even on board - lost to dependancy with each other around the 2nd or 3rd week mark. Surely Marco won’t keep acting like this?

 

Just as he thought of that, Marco shifted to lean against the mast, a ghost of smile on his face while his eyes were lingering over a sketch of a baby crawling and trying to stand up.

 

Weird.

 

Sighing again, Thatch raised the hand that was holding the devil fruit, turning it around with the critical eye of a chef inspecting a foreign ingredient, which he supposed he was. Selling it doesn’t seem right, when the fruit itself is possibly dangerous in the wrong hands, so since he had no intention of eating it, maybe he can just keep it around, after all. It is quite a trophy, if nothing else, so maybe he can make it a decoration in his room or something. 

 

He nodded in conviction at his own idea, bringing the fruit closer to his face and trying to get a sniff out of it before gagging. That had been a bad idea. Maybe he can ask Fossa or Rakuyo to make something fancy to keep it in, something that will combat the stench and even the eeriness away—

 

“Good evening, gents, nice weather we’re having, isn’t it? _Zehahaha,_ ”

 

Thatch lowered the fruit to see someone else slipping out from the shadows, gait relaxed and voice cheerful, and it was that laughter that easily identify him, “Oh, Teach,” he greeted with a smile, using his fruit-less hand to wave, “Out for a night stroll?”

 

On the other side of the pillar, Thatch could hear Marco’s low mumbling for a greeting, as the newcomer came even closer, “Eh, just the usual,” Teach said, coming to stop just right in front of Thatch. His eyes were zeroed in on the devil fruit in his hand, the chef noticed, though he wasn’t surprised; Teach had been one of the more adamant and curious people amongst the ones who he showed the fruit to, and seems to want nothing else to do but talk about it. He wondered if Teach wanted to get a devil fruit himself.

 

Huh, maybe instead of hanging it in his room, Thatch could give it to him instead. He had no need for it, after all, and it’s probably better in the hand of a trustworthy _nakama_ who will put it to good use.

 

But before he could say anything, suddenly, there’s some rustling from next to him, and he turned to find Marco closing down the book he had been reading before leaning back against the mast with a sigh, “You done with the book already? That was quick,” he asked incredulously, trying to recall just how far into it Marco was earlier. He could’ve sworn he was in the middle of the book, and it doesn’t look all that thin.

 

“Guide to Raise a Healthy, Happy Child,” he heard Teach read out loud, peering over to the cover of the book now propped on Marco’s lap, “That’s an interesting read you got there, Commander,”

 

Maybe Thatch was imagining it, but he could’ve sworn he saw Marco smiling before he shook his head, “Just some light reading, nothing’s wrong with that,”

 

Thatch glanced at the book’s thickness, “Doesn’t seem all that light to me,”

 

“Or is it that you got something to tell all of us, Commander? _Zehahaha,_ ”

 

This time, Thatch was sure he wasn’t imagining the brief pause before Marco replied, “Not at this moment, no,” he said cryptically, and this time, the smile on his face stayed a lot longer, enigmatic and almost mischievous, especially with the way his eyes twinkle. He then stood up, bringing the book along with him and started walking away, “You guys are going to be here for a while? Mind looking after this spot? I’m just going to go and find something else to read,”

 

“Go on ahead, Commander,” Teach grinned before Thatch can say anything, moving over just by the spot that Marco vacated, just right behind him.

 

Marco gave them both a smile and a nod, before making his way to the stairs that led into the ship’s hull. He started humming halfway through, and Thatch raised a brow, whistling.

 

“What do you think got him in that good of a mood?” the swordsman wondered loudly, before turning sharply to his conversation partner, “Wait, what did you say his book’s title was, Te—“

 

There’s a sudden striking pain on his side, and in shock, Thatch screamed, his hand going lax and dropping the _Yami Yami no Mi_ from his grip. He fell down with a choked gasp, both hands already making their way to the source of the excruciating pain on the side of his stomach and through his blurry eyes, saw Teach’s grinning face looking down at him. His mouth moved, a question filled with shock and disbelief on the tip of his tongue reflecting his mind’s inability to comprehend the situation.

 

“Teach,” he choked out, feeling a pool of blood starting to form underneath him and drenching his side. The knife, its handle protruding out from his abdomen while the blade fully sunk into his body, had hits something vital in him, Thatch knows from experience. He’s bleeding out, and he’s bleeding out fast, “W-why?”

 

But Teach - his friend, at least, who he thought was his friend - grinned unpleasantly, before bowing down to pick up something out of his view. When he stood up once more, Thatch widened his eyes when he saw that it was the _Yami Yami no Mi._

 

“Nothing personal, man,” he said in a mocking friendly tone, “I’m just a man who needs to fulfil his fate, is all,”

 

He opened his mouth, showing missing tooth and whatnot, bringing the devil fruit close to himself.

 

Suddenly there was a burst of blue and yellow, and Teach was gone out of Thatch’s view. 

 

The last thing he heard was the sound of a crash somewhere far away, and what might have been Marco’s voice calling his name before he blacked out.

 

* * *

 

The weather that morning was just as sunny and calm as the night before, but the situation on board of Moby was anything but calm and sunny.

 

There’s a traitor in their midst, a traitor that hurt one of their brothers with the intent to kill, thus breaking one of the most important rules on board their ship. 

 

Thatch looked at his surrounding, to the grim faces around him, taking in the sight away from the bandage around his middle he hadn’t stop pressing onto and Nurse Salvia next to him, who had allowed him to lean against her. A beautiful Alpha with long dark hair, as dark as the night above with a slim and athletic build, but while usually he would be flirting and jesting around with her, this time he was quiet and on edge, in the end unable to tear his eyes away from the sight in the middle of the circle that has formed on the deck.

 

She had been the first person he saw when he woke up, leaning up against him and with a part of her lacy bra peeking out of the nighties she probably didn’t have time to change out of, and the moment he sat up upon remembering everything that had happened had pushed him back down again, telling him that he was lucky Marco had been nearby.

 

“Your wound is really deep, Commander,” the nurse told him, “You lost quite the amount of blood, and i’m honestly shocked you’re already awake,”

 

“Teach tried to kill me,” he said almost questioningly, when he knows that was an undisputed truth, “Because of the devil fruit,”

 

Nurse Salvia had been quiet, before she nodded, “We know. He’s facing Pops for his crimes right now,”

 

Thatch had pleaded to her to bring him to the deck, where the entire ship’s crew had gathered to watch the proceeding, and after a while, despite her best interest, she finally agreed only if he promised he’d immediately go back after it was all said and done. 

 

And so here he was, catching what seems to be the middle of an impromptu court, with all of the commander sans himself gathered in the inner circle and their captain at the very head. Pops stood with a stoic expression, the bisento tall and mighty by his side. He looked down at Teach’s bound form not with the loving gaze of a father but the cold eyes of a judge, impartial and just. Thatch felt cold just seeing it, could feel the disappointment and sorrow emanating just from that expression alone.

 

His gaze shifted then, and the moment he found Thatch’s eyes, his eyes went wide and filled with concern but also relief. Everyone was now aware of his arrival, and as he stepped closer, half carried by the nurse next to him, the crowd parted to give him way, approaching the middle of the circle.

 

From where each commander was gathered, Thatch heard Ace called for his name before the young man ran to him and pull him into a tight hug, “Thatch, you’re awake!” he cried out, the odd scent that seemingly kept emanating from him despite obviously having taken suppressant now enveloping him almost lovingly. The gesture hurts his side, and he didn’t need to look down to know that the gauze was probably bleeding, but he still returned the hug with the one arm that wasn’t leaning on Nurse Salvia.

 

He chuckled against dark tresses on Ace’s head, only looking up when he heard footsteps approaching and wasn’t shocked to see Marco coming close. He was rather shocked to see that the Alpha’s eyes lacked disapproval for his closeness to his Omega, but he supposed being injured and almost dead gave him a pass.

 

The blonde did however, stopped Ace from carrying him by his arm, so the young man only trailed behind him as both Marco and the still quiet Nurse Salvia helped him walk over to the commander circle. Izou sidled up close to him, unpainted lips pulled into a thin worried lines while Vista moved behind him. The rest was still staring down at Teach, as Pops brought his bisento down to the floor, making the floor vibrated underneath them.

 

“Marshall Teach,” Their captain’s voice boomed, making the ground shake as if he had used his power with every word, “You have attempted to kill one of your own _nakama._ And you know that the punishment for this transgression is death,”

 

His face turned even more grim, the hand clutching around bisento’s handle turning white. Thatch imagined this must be hard on him too, to give a punishment this severe for one of his beloved sons, but in the end, even if he was one of their own and had been family for so long, Teach proves himself to be a traitor. A traitor that would’ve taken his life just for some devil fruit.

 

That fruit really was nothing but trouble, Thatch thought bitterly, so much that he supposed his expression had changed because of it when Ace muttered next to him if he’s alright. He was glad how close Ace stood by, his faint permeating scent giving him some semblance of calmness. 

 

Teach suddenly let out an angry shout, but even under the aggressive tone, there was no denying the fear underneath it, “ _Nakama?_ I joined this crew and spent years waiting not because of your ‘family’. I need that fruit to realize my dream, and my dream goes bigger than this place! My dream is One Piece itself! I will become Pirate King, and i would’ve taken down anyone on my way,” he turned his gaze at Thatch, eyes narrowing, “Anyone at all,”

 

It was a not so gentle yank on his side that alerted Thatch first when a ball of flame was suddenly shot out and narrowly missed Teach, ended up burning the floor next to him and part of his clothes. While still trying to regain his balance, he ignored the nearly torched man’s shocked cry to see Ace with both arms flaming snarling at him, only held back by Marco’s arm around his chest and upper arm. 

 

“If anyone is going to be Pirate King, it’s going to be Pops!” the young commander barked, emitting an even larger ball of flame from his palm, “How dare you even say that after you hurt Thatch and attacked Marco, you traitor!”

 

“Ace,” Marco’s voice was low but assertive, yet it did little to make the enraged Omega calm down.

 

The fearful expression on Teach’s face slowly melted away, and he let out a short cackle. Even in pain, Thatch bristled at the way he leered at Ace, as if his anger was amusing to him, “Shame you’d think that, Commander,” he said, “You’ve been so nice to me, i was considering asking you to join me,”

 

Even still restraining Ace, Marco bellowed in rage, the suddenness of the action startling onlookers and especially Teach himself. Thatch couldn’t blame him for reacting like that; Teach’s tone and the way he looked at Ace made it clear what exactly he meant by asking his - now former, considering the situation - division commander to ‘join him’. The fact that he dared to make that kind of insinuation in front of Marco was as close as it can be to openly challenging the Alpha for his mate as well, a sign of disrespect and even insolence.

 

It even made his own Alpha blood boil for his friends.

 

“Enough!” Whitebeard’s voice tore through what ruckus would’ve ensued with the air of finality. If there is any traces of any other emotion rather than horror in Teach’s features, they were gone the moment the captain raised his bisento, “I was a fool to ever took you in, Teach,”

 

The blade on the tip of the pole glistened under the still rising sun, “Let me remedy that mistake,”

 

With one powerful swipe, Teach’s head was separated from his body, rolling onto the floor until they stopped just a few feet away from Thatch’s feet. The headless corpse fell with a heavy thud, showing and spraying out gore to the previously pristine wooden floors of Moby Dick, a grim sight and a grim reminder for those who may follow his footsteps. No one mourned, no one protested, hardly anyone looked with pity in their eyes.

 

Thatch looked at the head on the floor, noting that Teach’s expression was one out of fear, the very last expression he will ever make.

 

Befitting death for a traitor and a coward.

 

A sudden anguished scream from his side startled him away and broke the silence, and the chef, along with the rest of the people gathered turned to see that the sound had come from Ace, who was once again struggling against Marco’s arm. Instead of angry, now he looked extremely upset, so much even that there’s tears running down his eyes, though Thatch doubt they were meant for Teach and his demise in Pops’ hands.

 

“Ace, calm down,” Marco shushed him, pulling him back again. When that didn’t work, he rather forcefully turned Ace around and pull him to his chest, “He’s dead, he’s dead. It’s all over,”

 

But Ace kept struggling, albeit slowly loosing intensity, until in the end, he settled with clutching Marco’s shirt tightly, “I’m not going to calm down!” he shouted, the voice made muffled by the older man’s shoulder, where he buried his face to, “He— He was going to kill Thatch! He was going to kill you!”

 

“But he didn’t, Ace, i’m fine, Thatch also will be fine,” Marco glanced at him as he said that, his eyes showing a smidgen of uncertainty that he clearly can’t show in his voice right now. Thatch nodded and gave him a small smile, assuring his friend that his observation had been correct. It hurts, and he knows any moment now Salvia is going to pull him away to the infirmary again for a long recuperation, but he is alive, and he knows he’d be fine in no time.

 

“He was one of my men!” the Omega clearly wasn’t done, and Thatch had the urge to go over and assure him too, if Ace’s tantrum hadn’t made it difficult to do so, “He’s one of my men and he did this! I—“ he heaved a couple of times, breathing turning laboured as one does after such anger, “I trusted him. I trusted him and he did this!”

 

“We all did, Ace,” Thatch told him, finally finding his voice, and trying to keep the pain from coming out, “Fuck, i was joking with him before he suddenly went and stabbed at me. I had my back turned to him, he could’ve killed me if i hadn’t turned around then,”

 

Which, in retrospect was probably the wrong thing to say because Ace cried even more, burying his face on Marco’s shoulder. The situation was indeed grim and upsetting, but he didn’t think the young man was going to react like this. It wasn’t his fault as much as it wasn’t Thatch’s fault he didn’t see Teach aiming for him in the first place. He should’ve seen the signs too when the man began asking too many questions and when he felt someone following him around, but he hadn’t because why should he fear anything when he’s on board of Moby, amongst friends and family?

 

The thought itself made him sick now. He was attacked in his own home, a place of his refuge from the world against him. If he wasn’t safe up here, where can he be safe?

 

Fuck Teach, fuck him for making him think like this now.

 

Meanwhile, Marco had gone to wrapped his arms around Ace’s waist, rubbing along his back and shushing him down, “It’s okay, it’s okay, just calm down. Don’t get so worked up, it’s not good for you,” 

 

In Ace’s true rebellious fashion, despite still clinging and leaning deeper into Marco’s embrace, Thatch could hear him mutter, “Don’t tell me to calm down, i’m fucking mad right now,”

 

“I know you are, i am too,” the blonde said with a sigh, “but remember what Amox said, you can’t overexert yourself. It’s bad for the baby,”

 

“I am thinking about the baby, Marco! I’m thinking about how that sick son of a bitch tried to hurt my baby’s father and i…,” he trailed off into silence, his heaving shoulders slowing down, “…I’m sorry, i don’t know why i’m like this,”

 

Marco pressed a kiss to the side of his temple, lowly murmuring what might be soothing words to Ace’s ears, low enough to escape anyone else’s hearings.

 

Right next to them, Thatch was left with his mouth gaping, neck hurts from how fast he had snapped his head to look at the couple and lightheaded but not because of his still bleeding side. By the looks of it, he was not alone in his shock. Every other commander nearby had the same expression - except for Jozu, who sighed and mumbled something like ‘Cat’s out of the bag’ - and no one within the crowd who hasn’t left to take care of Teach’s body - when did that even happen - moved a muscle in utter confusion.

 

Hell, even Pops looked shocked, the shocked and slowly emerging jubilant expression on his face a complete 180 from the grimness that was there before.

 

Much like the athmosphere as a whole, even. 

 

In the continuous silence, with a voice like a pinched frog, Thatch squeaked out, “Wait, a baby?!”

 


	4. 5th Division Commander, 'Flower Sword' Vista | Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back by unpopular demand: me and my fics.
> 
> Warning: Morning sickness. Yeeep it's up to that point fellas. 
> 
> Hope you'd enjoy!

Even after weeks, Thatch’s near death and Teach’s betrayal was still too fresh and apparent around them. It doesn’t matter that no one sympathise with Teach on his end times, but the fact remains that he used to be one of them. To know that all this time, all the years they had known him, he had been planning to betray them hurts. Some people mourn, not for the Teach that Pops beheaded, but for the Marshall Teach that they called a friend and a brother.

 

Vista knows that despite being the only victim in this entire incident, Thatch also mourned in his own way. He was close to everyone on the ship, even Teach, and the betrayal that almost took his life struck him hard. During the times Vista visited him down the infirmary, despite still maintaining his usual cheery and constantly optimistic self, there would be times where he is completely downtrodden and not up for visitors. That wish of solitude excluded his fellow commanders, and while it is nice to know that he at least trusted them still, there are times that Thatch looked almost wary to see someone else in his space.

 

Though his wounds might not take much longer to heal, just like everyone else on the ship, they all know it will take a while for the emotional scar to completely heal for Thatch.

 

Still, likewise for all of them, at least the ship had something else to distract their minds off the looming glumness, a happy little news that will bring them to forget about the tragedy of Teach’s betrayal and focus on a brighter future for their crew.

 

“But i wanna go back to work, I’m going crazy just lying down here!” Thatch complained for the hundred times that hour, after he was told by Doctor Amox that while his wound is healing nicely, they need to have him on bedrest for a few more days still to make sure there are no extensive injuries to his internal organs. His usual pomp was gone since his stay in the infirmary and was replaced by a long ponytail, and while Vista knew him even back then before he started growing his hair out to make his trademark hairstyle, it was still rather odd to see him without the ‘do.

 

The person he was whining to, Marco, didn’t budge at all, so the injured chef turned his attention to Ace, who sat on the one lone chair in the room by his bed and looking between the two of them in amusement, “Come on, Ace, tell that big, mean thing you call a mate to let me get out of here and back to work, huh? I’ve been here for almost 3 weeks! Have mercy!”

 

Before Ace can even answer, Thatch moved his gaze lower, to the bulge that became slightly more pronounced as the young man sat down, “Your dad is mean, and you should never follow his example, baby,”

 

At around 2 months along and quickly approaching the end of his first trimester period, there was no mistaking even the small, inconspicuous bump that has started to grow from Ace’s muscled abdomen, especially as the hard planes started to give out and gone soft. Vista, along with everyone else - even Pops, to a lesser degree - cannot seem to keep their eyes off the apparent growth, being such a mystifying sight that they’d all risk Marco’s now near permanent glare.

 

What made it even harder still was that Ace still went around shirtless, even though pretty much everyone had overheard several arguments with his mate to cover himself. A flimsy shirt may do little to actually protect the important growing being inside of the young Omega, but it might actually put what every concern Marco’s mind had to rest, so it wasn’t until recently that Ace started to actually wear them. Still, his clothes has always been form fitting, so people can still see Ace’s growing midsection, but at least Marco looked calmer about people staring these days. Well, mildly so.

 

As Jozu and Thatch put it, overprotective bastard.

 

“He’s torturing your future favorite uncle for no reason— Ow! No hitting the injured man!”

 

Marco scoffed, the hand on Ace’s shoulder pulling the young man closer to his side. Ace went along with the motion happily, still laughing, “Stop trying to corrupt our child this early,”

 

“If you can whine that much, you can take a hit to the head,” Izou piped from the other side of the bed, folding back the fan he had used to deliver a thwack to the back of Thatch’s head just right after Marco’s fist, “And don’t be that confident just yet, any one of us could be favorite uncles,”

 

Izou’s comment sparked a rather heated debate between the two and some others like Haruta and Blamenco about who may be favorite uncle, as Marco sighed exasperatedly while the rest of the commanders gathered in Thatch’s room laughed. It was the first time in weeks that they are all allowed to gather together to visit their injured _nakama,_ and it had felt like forever since they saw Thatch back in such a spirited mood. The news of his recovery ease everyone’s nerves, and the energetic display was like a burden being lifted from their shoulders.

 

Still, the purpose of this gathering was not strictly meant for social visit.

 

Rakuyo and Fossa had outdone themselves, creating the small but evidently quite heavy seastone box that was now seated on Thatch’s lap. The latch made a heavy creaking noise as the chef opened the cover, before placing the _Yami Yami no Mi_ that Vista and Jozu had been entrusted to keep safe inside of it. It rolled, quite innocently so, even, as if it hadn’t been the one cause of a near death and what other catastrophe should Teach really get his hand on it.

 

It immediately killed the previously lighthearted atmosphere around the room the moment Fossa brought it forward.

 

No one dares to speak as Thatch continued to stare blankly at the fruit, loose strands of hair framing his face almost solemnly.

 

In the midst of that silence, Izou finally spoke, voice gentle and losing the snarky bite that he had during their banter earlier, “Are you sure this is what you wanted?”

 

The Alpha took one deep breath and sighed, as he resolutely closed the chest down, triggering the complicated locking mechanism with various clicks and whirrs. It will take a special kind of locksmith or extreme brute force to open the seastone and steel encased box, and that is if anyone ever even found it in the first place.

 

Considering the special detour they had taken these last few days since the commander finally made up his mind, they hoped that no one truly will.

 

* * *

 

The sky was gloomy and great storm may hit the area any time soon, so they have to make their move as fast as they could. Still, no one was in any rush, watching silently as Thatch threw the box containing the _Yami Yami no Mi_ down one of the deepest known trench in Grand Line seas. The box sunk heavier and faster than rock, disappearing from sight and hopefully out of mind.

 

Even when the sky finally opened and the first drizzle of rain began to fall over them, nobody moved and inch to look for cover or continue on sailing. Thatch was still leaning by the railings where he had thrown the box away, with Marco and Vista himself right behind him to help him walk over and later to go back to the infirmary. He doesn’t need help anymore, with his steps steady and no longer wincing in pain on interval, but that was only what they can see on the outside.

 

What he had in his mind not one of them knows.

 

Vista watched as Marco moved forward and clapped one of the chef’s shoulder. Thatch glanced at him, and gave a small sigh, “It’s for the best,” the man said, finally looking away from the sea and to the audience he had behind him, to the crowd of crew, to the commanders, and to Pops in the middle of them. The captain gave him a nod, a sign that he approved of Thatch’s decision and that made the Alpha gave a little genuine smile of his own, “Something that destructive shouldn’t exist in this world, not when they can turn family against each other,”

 

If anyone disagree with him still referring to Teach as family, nobody said a word. Vista knows at the very least, they all agree that this is for the best.

 

Next to him, Marco moved his gaze to the crying skies, before settling it to where Ace stood, right next to Pops’ knee. The first mate’s eyes were glazed, far away and deep in thought, and when he spoke, his voice reflected the same, “It was called evil for a reason,” he said, “Without it in the world, perhaps we have secured a better future, for us and for the upcoming generation,”

 

This, he knows, was something everyone can agree with as well.

 

* * *

 

The novelty of Ace’s pregnancy didn’t die down even after weeks has passed since his and Marco’s accidental slip-up, and the very obvious growth inside of his belly seems to only fuel the flame some more.

 

Betas and Omegas alike had taken to discreetly stare and sometimes even come up with a reason to be close by just to observed or even touch, and the only reason why Alphas hadn’t done the same was because Marco’s built in radar seems to be detecting them faster than the other two secondary gender, and thus giving them lesser escape time. It was ridiculous how juvenile an entire ship of a _Yonko’s_ crew can be, but Vista can understand the appeal; In a life like theirs, it was refreshing and almost miraculous to see a life growing into existence around here instead of taking one or have it being taken away from amongst them.

 

Heck, even he wanted to come up and be able to see Ace’s growing stomach at close distance sometimes, but sometimes Marco's glare were so potent they make his skin crawl with danger and prickled the tips of his well groomed moustache.

 

While he would agree with everyone who called the blonde stingy and over protective, he also understood where he is coming from; To a bonded Alpha, their Omega and child would be the most important thing in the world, bar none. It was an undeniable protective familial instinct latent inside of Alphas, and judging by the way other Alpha commander or crews had been acting around Ace, it is safe to say that the child mentioned doesn’t even have to be of their blood, just someone with a strong bond with them. And for them, where family matters the most, of course this will be amplified further.

 

Especially for Marco, whose protectiveness one can tell does not fully come from base instinct alone. He’s a protective man at heart, a worrier, and it was no secret that even before he’s bonded and know of Ace’s status - or lack thereof - he had always been fond of him, perhaps even in love. It was still funny to think that only a while ago that he had been joking around with some of the crew and more gossipy commander about the possibility of romance between Marco and Ace, and now months later, they’re already on their way to parenthood.

 

With all that in mind, Vista wondered just how panicky Marco would be when he found out about this.

 

Bathroom duty is just as important as any other duties on board, of course, but when you live with mostly men - the nurses have their own facilities and cleans it themselves as well - in a place as big and diverse as Moby Dick, there’s a reason why this one particular set of responsibility was openly repulsed by the commanders and their division alike. To make things fair for everyone, there is a rule that once you got bathroom duty, you and your division would not need to do it again for half a year, but so far, it was a couple of months to the end of the year, and he was one of the lucky people who had so far dodged cleaning duty along with Haruta.

 

And it if anything is quicker than hands that are trained for sleight and dexterity, it would be the fastest commander within their ranks.

 

But he is a gracious loser, so he faced his division member’s full disappointment and reluctance and goes on with his life. Disgusting and hard as it is, there are worse things in life.

 

Or so he thought, until today.

 

“Yeah, he’s been there for 10 minutes, Commander,” Dhevid, one of his division member reported with a wary glance at the furthest away toilet stall, where a rather horrific retching sound has apparently spooked and concerned plenty of people. The amount of reports he got started to dwindle as the weeks goes by, but it seems like from the sound of it, today was bad enough that so many people were back to being concerned and thought he should handle it.

 

It, of course, being Ace’s newly developed morning sickness.

 

The commander tipped his top hat by the rim, huffing from his mouth and trying not to wince when the heavy heaving noise echoing from the stall was once again interrupted by violent vomiting, “Is this the first time for today?”

 

Dhevid shook his head, long ponytail swishing along with the motion, “Second, i think. The people who took early showers today said they also heard him near dawn,”

 

And it’s not even 10 a.m. yet.

 

Vista thanked and dismissed him, not before telling him to go on and clean someplace else while he dealt with this. The swordsman took a deep breath - before cringing when he caught the mixture of cleaning soap and pungent vomit - and approached the stall with the same amount of trepidation he’d approached a dangerous animal.

 

When all of the retching and coughing finally died down, the commander cleared his throat and knocked on the door lightly.

 

“…What?” Ace sounded miserable, as expected from someone who sounded like they just threw up their entire intestines and digestive system down the drain.

 

“Do you want me to bring you anything?” Asking if he’s alright is redundant at this point, Vista guessed, so at the very least, he can find out if there is something he can do to help the poor Omega.

 

Ace didn’t answer for a while, on account of coughing harshly and taking a few stuttering breath to recover from it, “No,” he finally said, before Vista can hear a gulping sound followed by some sputtering, “Maybe my toothbrush and a really strong paste to wash this taste off my mouth,”

 

He did as was asked, having both items ready by the sink by the time Ace finally emerged out of the stall, pale, sweaty and gaunt. Immediately the swordsman rushed over, especially as Ace began to sway on his foot, but the young man only pushed him away, “I’m fine,” he murmured, sounding like anything but, “Just really light headed,”

 

“You did threw up quite a lot,” understatement of the year, but Vista decided not to approach the stall Ace had vacated quite just yet to check. Even from this far away, the smell of bile was off putting and the only reason why he is still here is because he is concerned for his _nakama,_ “You had to be dehydrated. Have you checked with the doctor? That sounds insanely bad just for a morning sickness,”

 

As he approached the sink and began preparing his toothbrush, Ace snorted, a little unhappy sneer appearing on his face, “Like hell this only happen at mornings, they should just call it ‘All day sickness’,” he commented in disdain, squeezing quite the generous amount on the toothbrush’s bristle. After some consideration, he squeezed some more out, and Vista felt a pang of sympathy for him, “And not really. I’ve just started throwing up this badly since yesterday, it was only about mild before,”

 

Vista watched Ace started cleaning his mouth from the mirror over the sink, spending less time brushing his teeth and more time on his tongue and the cavern of his mouth, “Then you should, it can be something serious,” he said grimly and with a concerned frown, “And if it happened so many times in a day—“

 

What he was about to say next was interrupted by Ace speaking while still jamming his toothbrush into his mouth in the speed and intensity that was probably unwise, causing whatever it is he’s trying to say to come out unintelligible. Vista tried to stop him and wanted to say that he didn’t understand, but Ace’s brushing was also rather concerning for him so it only resulted with him opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before he decided to say, “Okay, finish brushing your teeth first before talking. And don’t brush them so hard like that, you’d make your gum bleed—“

 

Again, he was interrupted by a loud spatting and the water tap being forcefully turned on. Ace was in a hurry to finish and say something to him, the top hat wearing man could see, but even then he took time to gargle his mouth clean. The aftertaste of morning sickness must be horrible indeed, “Listen, contrary to what all of you and Marco thinks, i can take care of myself,” Ace finally said, with water still dripping from his lips and mouth and his front drenched from all of the water he scooped up and gargle with, “You don’t have to watch my every single step worrying that something might happen to me or the baby, for crying out loud. I thought with Marco being gone i can take some break from all of the coddling,”

 

He sounded properly irritated, and the whiff of unmistakable scent from him tells the same story. He’s agitated and concerned, and judging by the look on his face, tired. Vista knows he’s been in the same state since the day before yesterday, when Marco had to leave to scout ahead to their destination. As reluctant as the zoan Alpha was to leave his pregnant mate behind, the crew’s life comes first, hard as he imagined it must be for both of them. Ace’s words may indicate that he at least felt relief that Marco left for a while and gave him the space Vista hardly ever see him have anymore, but he knew it was the other way around.

 

While everyone had commented left and right about Marco’s excessive protectiveness towards Ace, but unlike them, Vista saw the same happening from Ace to Marco. He started clinging close, closer than necessary when they’re together, and if the Alpha of the pair was always one to be close to his Omega, then the Omega would be the one who initiate a touch of sorts, as if making sure his mate was really close by.

 

Jozu told him once after he commented on it that it may be an instinctual thing. Even after the news broke, Jozu was still the one Marco and Ace trusted to be close by whenever the blonde man has other duties to attend to - something Thatch and plenty others were extremely jealous of the Alpha for - and not only did Ace never did that to him, his scent now kept him at a distance. The luxurious sweet smell edged away from him at times, almost avoiding him. Bonded Omegas sometimes has the aversion to be close to other Alphas or Betas after all, especially during or near heat, and to Ace, while he won’t be getting heats until the baby was born, it probably worked similarly now that he is carrying from his Alpha.

 

Marco was only gone for a few days and will be back tomorrow, but Vista imagined it hadn’t been easy for Ace, especially with how many people there are who swarmed around him nowadays without his mate as the buffer.

 

Vista kept his distance away, something he learned from Jozu - and highly doubt anyone else, no matter the secondary gender seems to be able to do these days around Ace - as he spoke, “We’re just worried, Ace. And i’m sure that once Marco gets back, he’d be the same,”

 

“He’d be worse, you mean,” the dark haired youth commented, his tone irritated but the soft smile on his face and the gentle caress he gave to his middle said otherwise, “I’d go later, okay? I just felt really sick after smelling something Namur ate earlier. The doc warned me it could happen sometimes,” he laughed a little, “Can you imagine, me, feeling sick from food?”

 

It is rather bizarre when he puts it that way. After all, he still had breakfast with the same sickening amount of food - if not more - this morning, you’d think that certain pregnancy side effect won’t affect him.

 

Duties took his attention away, but Vista was sure he wasn’t the only one who has noticed and was concerned about this sudden change. Dinner that night was held on the deck, since they’re on their way to a beautiful spring island and decided that they could enjoy the climate surrounding it, which was a big change from the storms they had been getting these last few days. It was also held as a celebration for Thatch’s final release from the infirmary and being reinstated to his post as the Fourth Division Commander.

 

Still despite being the main star of the party, Thatch and everyone else’s attention was more fixated to Ace than anything else.

 

“Commander, we made this especially for you and the baby! It’s healthy and could lessen your nausea, the sous chef and Commander Thatch guarantees it!”

 

“You’re not working yourself too hard, are you? Isn’t Jozu supposed to be looking after you, or is he not doing a good job? If he isn’t, you know, my division’s current work is pretty relaxed…,”

 

“Ace, do you need anything? Does the baby need anything? ….Can i touch your belly?”

 

“Haruta, you know we all promised not to ask that anymore,”

 

“Aww, but that’s only because Namur got tired of picking up the people Marco threw off. Well, Marco’s not here right now,”

 

“Everyone make room for the newly healed man!” Thatch exclaimed from the midst of the ruckus, practically stealing the bowl of food the eager young chef from earlier was offering to offer it to Ace himself. The seat in the middle of the deck had been placed there for him as the reason they held the party in the first place, but it was now occupied by a bewildered Ace, who had more or less been forced to sit there because apparently ‘pregnant people cannot stand up, ever’, “Eat up to your heart’s content, we got more where that came from and it’s all exclusively for the two of you,”

 

The food does look delicious, and Vista expected no less from the fourth division, but Ace’s face went pale at the sight of it, the first time he looked anything but hungry when offered a plate.

 

Vista, realizing that this may be one of the case that food can indeed make Ace feel sick, immediately walked over towards the crowd despite his aversion to be in the middle of the cooing and overbearing people. He was beaten closely by Jozu’s own arrival, who looked at the gathered crowd with a stern face and say, “Stop crowding him, all of you. Give him some room to breathe,”

 

Perhaps Marco made the right decision to more or less appoint Jozu to be Ace’s ‘guardian’ during his absence, because Vista doubted anyone else in the ship could be as calm as him facing the ire of so many people. It wasn’t as much as Jozu’s word as he was Jozu, who right before Marco’s departure had been addressed and left with a special message to ‘Take care of Ace while i’m gone, alright?’. While Marco and Ace discussed - that is, argued away from everyone - about the necessity of having a ‘Omega-with-a-baby sitter’, everyone else immediately took note of the unfairness that only one of them was given that special privilege.

 

Ridiculous, the lot of them.

 

“Just because you’re the one who found out he’s pregnant before everyone else on the ship—“

 

“Stop hogging him, Jozu! You’re so unfair!”

 

“Both you and Marco are so stingy,”

 

While Jozu deals - as in, standing quietly and resolutely like big wall of diamond that he is - with getting all of the attention on Ace to him, Vista could see Ace slipping away from attention, moving awkwardly from the chair away to the other side of the deck, where Pops sat. With one last glance at the protesting mob, he followed the young commander quietly, trying to move as discreetly as he could himself to not raise any attention.

 

The area where Whitebeard’s chair was unusually empty, but considering that the majority of people were still crowded around the middle of the deck, it seems like a blessing in disguise. Pops saw Ace’s approach first over his tankard, and when he lowered it, he found Vista’s eyes as well before he addressed Ace, “Not quite enjoying the attention, my boy?” he joked, putting the tankard of beer down - quite significantly far away from him in fact - as he patted the empty spot next to him.

 

Ace’s smile was tired but relieved, perhaps seeing that he won’t receive the same amount of overbearing attention here as well. He sat down on the empty space offered, lowering himself down with more grace and care than the usual plopping down he would do. Vista contemplates joining before deciding that Ace would get the comfort he obviously needs from Pops alone, and decided to stay behind the mast he used as a hiding place. Just because he decided not to interrupt, doesn’t mean he wanted to go back to the commotion.

 

Suddenly, Ace lurched forward, one hand covering his mouth and the other wrapping around his stomach, looking to all like he was about to throw up. Whitebeard moved far faster than he should be able to with his bulk, and Vista was a step away from revealing himself when the raven haired male took a deep breath, looking up high, “Sorry,” he breathed, taking another deep breath before continuing, “Sorry, i just felt really sick. The soup Thatch made smelled horrible,”

 

“It’s understandable, your body is changing to accomodate the little life in you,” going back to his sitting position, the captain lowered one of his massive finger, using it to gingerly stroke Ace’s side, especially near his abdomen. Ace had allowed others to touch the small belly, but he almost leaned to Pops’ touch, as if wanting the old man to feel more of his first ‘grandchild’, “It’ll go away, just be patient. Or tell Amox about it, i’m sure he can do something or give you something to make it easier for you,”

 

The finger moved upwards, tapping Ace’s head gently in a fatherly manner, “And go easy on yourself as well. Nothing is wrong with working as you do, but take a break every now and then. If you haven’t already, you’d be having cravings and mood swings, just go and follow them without hesitating. Marco’s not the only one who is willing to help you and care for you and the baby,” the man with the crescent moustached chuckled, the sound rumbling underneath their foot.

 

After a brief pause, Ace nodded, almost hesitantly. He seems shy, something Vista hadn’t seen since he first decided to join the crew and was getting used to having strangers coming up to him in such a familiar manner. He placed both of his hands next to his stomach, rubbing slightly as he looked back up, “How’d you know so much about this?”

 

Pops chuckled again, louder this time, making the floor rumbles with the sound, “Why, i have been around for a long time, i have seen and lived through a lot, including caring for a pregnant person,” his laughter died down, the smile on his face turning sad, “I only wish that, when it comes to that, i was able to experience so much more,”

 

His words were cryptic, but it was delivered in such a melancholic tone that it understandably took Ace a while to ask again, “Did something happened?”

 

The hand that was still stroking his head faltered, but never taken away. After a while, Whitebeard sighed,“She didn’t want the child to have a pirate for a father,” he murmured, “And as much as i wished for a family of my own then, i cannot stay in one place, away from the sea,”

 

Vista frowned, the first time he had ever heard of this. Their captain told a lot of stories of his youth, of the years even before he rowed the seas as a young rookie and into becoming one of the most notorious pirates in all the seas, but this story never once came up. Perhaps because it was different from the tales of glory and losses, something more private and away from his life as a pirate.

 

As the commander silently contemplated this, he heard Ace ask again, “Did you miss them?”

 

“She died a long time ago, fighting for the child’s life,” he said, the pain on his voice fresh despite the story must be years, even decades old by then, longer than any of them on board this ship had known of him, “As for the child himself, that’s quite hard to say. I supposed i both miss him and can’t miss him at all,”

 

It didn’t miss Vista’s observation of the very specific pronoun used by the captain, when Ace spoke again, “Why not?”

 

Whitebeard was silent, and when he spoke, his voice was distant, “Well, because i wish i can be a father, an actual father to him. I missed the opportunity to be one, and now, i feel like i cannot reveal myself to him anymore,” he said with a low and amused tone, but there’s an edge to it, a strain in his voice that means it was hard for Pops to impart this story, cryptic as they may be to someone else, “But at the same time, you can’t miss someone you see every day,”

 

In the shocked silence that ensued, Pops chuckled and moved his hand lower, pressing against Ace’s slightly bulging stomach and almost absentmindedly rubbing along the bump, “Well, at least i can take some comfort in knowing that my son won’t take on his Pops’ footsteps and miss his own chance to be a father,”

 

* * *

 

The vomiting that early morning did start again at dawn, and it was a good thing that Vista woke much earlier that morning because he caught it as it was happening.

 

But suddenly, all retching noises and heavy heaving fell silent in about the 3rd minute mark and there was nothing but silence from inside of the stall until he heard a soft thud. He glanced at several other crew member who had stuck around even after they finished their own businesses, and finally knocked on the wooden door that separated them from Ace, “Ace?” he called out, knocking again when there’s no answer, “Ace, are you okay in there?”

 

There is still no answer.

 

Trepidation started settling deep into his core, so he knocked even louder, and when even that doesn’t elicit any reaction, with little hesitation, the commander pulled out one of his swords, “Stay back,” he ordered the gathered men before jamming his sword through the thick wooden door and create a hole big enough near the lock to put his hand through and unlocked it. If there is a way he could’ve done this without ruining property, then Vista’s screaming, protective Alpha blood doesn’t allow him to think that far and efficiently.

 

At the click of the lock being pried open, he wasted no time to slam the door open and what they saw behind the door made several people gasp.

 

Vista’s blood ran cold.

 

He immediately made his way to Ace’s side, whose body was limp against the wall with lips and face completely pale they almost turns blue. If there was a moment of doubt this may just be another narcolepsy episode, then his pallor readily dispute that away. He was also unresponsive when Vista turned him around, head falling limply against the swordsman’s chest.

 

With one fell swoop, he carried Ace in his arms, already feeling like he’s losing all semblance of composure that he may usually have when he noted how light the young man felt, as well as how cold and clammy his skin was. Vista ignored the concerned crowd and made his way out of the bathroom, running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the infirmary, with his mind running even faster with thoughts and irrational amount of fear.

 

At the same time, on top of the crows nest, the look out on duty noted a blue and yellow blur on the sky quickly making their way towards their ship.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know if you like me adding some side stories like Thatch and the devil fruit’s side plot every now and then, because i think that if i only focus the story mainly on MarAce, it kind of defeat the purpose of having the story told in 3rd person? I’m always going to tie it back in to them, of course, but in a way, i’m trying to keep the story from being too boring and linear. What do you think? If you do mind, i can always change it to make less of these for this fic and if i ever wrote something like this in the future again. 
> 
> Also inserting a (not-so-subtle?) headcanon that would not have relevance in the plot much, but i like to keep it in here. Bonus if you can spot it!
> 
> Hope you liked it!


	5. 5th Division Commander, 'Flower Sword' Vista | Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you'd enjoy!

 

“Out of my way!"

 

News travel fast on board of Moby, so it was no surprise that within minutes, Vista could see at least half of the crew in various states of wakefulness and readiness crowding in front of the infirmary, trying to get a glimpse inside while being kept away by the nurses. He could even see Namur and Atmos outside, being part of the group, and he suspected that while Commanders were usually given enough space to be able to get a better view of a situation, this time it hardly mattered.

 

One commander receive the same, if not more space, however, because nobody wanted to be bulldozed and thrown over by Marco, not even the biggest amongst them all.

 

With Doctor Amox still busy with his sudden patient, it was up to Vista to come over and stopped his fellow Alpha from freaking out even more, placing a grounding hand on Marco’s shoulder, “Hey, calm down,” he only managed to get out when Marco’s head snapped to his direction, so loudly so even he can hear the audible crick.

 

“Don’t tell me to calm down, what the hell happened to Ace?! What about the baby?!” Marco nearly shrieked, and Vista instinctively let go of the man’s shoulder as if for once, his healing flames could burn, but didn’t move away from blocking the way over to the bed where the doctor and one patient was located, “I was just away for one day, what the hell happened?!”

 

Before Vista can reply - though with what, he doesn’t know - the curtain that blocked the view to the bed where Ace lied was pulled back, to reveal a frowning Doctor Amox. Coincidentally, that means also showing Ace on the bed, face pale and still unconscious, and the swordsman could practically see the moment Marco too grew faint, “Please keep it down, this is the infirmary,” the doctor scolded, “I will be with you in a second, commander,”

 

With that, he pulled the curtain back, and when Marco didn’t protest any longer, Vista took pity at him and pulled him over to one of the closest beds so he could sit down.

 

“He was throwing up horribly this morning,” he started with a quiet voice, sighing, “Since yesterday even, but though i told him to go and get a check up, i guess he didn’t,” Evidently, he should’ve let that part out for now because the fainted Omega’s mate let out a strangled groan, and it was such a familiar move of cursing one’s stupidity that Vista didn’t even need to guess what he was thinking, “This morning, it was even worse off, and i found him lying out cold on the toilet stall. One minute, he was puking his guts out and the next, well,” he trailed off, glancing to the side again to the drawn curtain and the brief shadows behind it.

 

“I shouldn’t have gone,” Marco muttered behind his hands, both pressed against his face, “I should’ve stayed with him, fuck, i shouldn’t have—“

 

“Hey, hey,” the moustached commander called out softly, reaching out to pat his friend’s shoulder though inside, he himself felt unsure of all of this. Fuck, Vista never saw him this panicked and out of it in over 20 years, not even during Moby’s worst. Pops was the ship that leads them, but Marco was the level headed anchor who grounds them, even Pops himself, through bad and good. He was the one who wasn’t supposed to lose his cool, and now that he did, Vista didn’t know what to say or do.

 

After a while, they could hear a grating sound of the curtain being pulled back, gaining both of their attention. The doctor stepped out, putting his stethoscope down from his ears, “I need to do some more test,” he said as he made his way to his desk, pulling out the drawer and picking up several instruments to place them on top of a metal tray. Usually a nurse would be close by to help him with it, but all of them were outside right now, doing their best to keep the infirmary from being ran oven by concerned people, “If you can be so kind to call one or two of the nurses to help me with this, Commander Vista? Maybe you can also give word to lessen the worries outside. Commander Marco, you’re free to stay, i need to ask you a few things,”

 

Marco didn’t need to be told twice with how quickly he bolted over to Ace’s bedside, and deciding it was for the best, Vista headed out, not before giving the three one last look.

 

If possible, there’s even more people waiting outside, as if all other activity on board the ship was halted so that everyone could gather. Even Whitebeard was present, his presence amongst worried faces being one that caught Vista off guard when he exited the infirmary.

 

He didn’t even have the chance to tell one of the nurses about what he was sent out here to do when Thatch pushed out of the crowd and voiced what he was sure was the three questions in everyone’s mind, including his, “How’s Ace? What happened to him? Is the baby okay or not?”

 

The silence was palpable and the pressure was almost crushing. Taking a deep breath, he delivered the doctor’s message to the two nearest nurses, and after they walked inside and disappeared from sight, he took another deep breath and finally spoke, “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know,”

 

* * *

 

It took a while - a couple of hours while, even - but as worried as some of them were, there are other things to do and the ship needs to keep on running. The chefs and those on morning guard duty were the first to leave - albeit reluctantly - back to their own posts, and half an hour later there’s only half, even a quarter of the previous crowd left camping outside of the infirmary, including all of the commanders and Pops. Thatch left with his subordinates and came back as soon as he could to announce that breakfast is ready, though everyone knew that wasn’t the whole reason.

 

At long last, the door was opened, and out come Doctor Amox himself, who seemed as surprised as Vista did when he first came out to see the awaiting masses. He gave them a sweeping gaze, ending up on their captain, “Both Commander Ace and the child are fine,” he said finally, prompting plenty of relieved sighs and Whitebeard even held on to his chest, patting it twice, “What caused the fainting had been increased blood pressure, which is common on this stages on pregnancy, but in his case it was made rather severe than usual due to lack of suitable nutrients,”

 

In the middle of the crowd, Izou snorted, the sound catching attention of most, “I’m sorry, have you seen how much he ate? Nutrients are the last thing he lacked,”

 

With the tension more or less gone, several tittering could be heard, even outright chuckles from Pops, “ _Suitable_ nutrients, Commander Izou. With pregnancies comes strict dietary necessity, so his usual consumption of… well, everything, won’t do anymore. Plus, he told me he had been experiencing rejections towards different types of foods and smells. Commander Thatch, for the next few months, you and your division may need to make a special menu for Commander Ace’s sake, and that’s not counting when the craving period starts,”

 

Thatch almost seemed to glow at the prospect of playing an important role in this monumental event within Moby. He grinned brightly and puffed his chest like a proud, strutting bird, making several others around him rolled their eyes, “No problem, doc. I’d personally handle that even, anything for A—“

 

“Wait, he’s up?!”

 

Haruta raced to the front, almost bumping to Thatch and half climbing up Kingdew’s bulk in his haste, “Can we see him?! Can we see him, doc, can we?”

 

What immediately follows the petite Beta’s request were various others, spoken and shouted in different volumes. Amongst the deluge of request and questions, the doctor seemed mighty overwhelmed, before he raised both hands up in a calming gesture, trying to speak over the crowd’s noises. He was drowned in, of course, so he took a step back, raising his arms even higher and even standing on his tiptoe as he spoke as loud as the mild-mannered doctor could, “Now, gentlemen— Listen— Listen!”

 

The shoutings dwindled down slowly, but finally, everyone shuts up. The Beta doctor huffed, tugging on the front of his shirt to straightened himself up, “I understand your concerns, but Commander Ace needs his rest right now. So i am sorry, but no visitors allowed—”

 

“For how long?!”

 

“Until i gave my permission, Commander Haruta, so if you are truly concerned for both Commander Ace and his child,” the greying doctor took a deep breath, both hands clapped together in front of him, “Please understand,”

 

The expected disappointment within the crowd could be basically summarized with how fast Haruta’s face fell, but like him as well, they knew better than to object further. One by one, they all began to leave, the crowded spot slowly becoming empty, with only Vista and Jozu remaining, as well as Pops, who was conversing quietly with Amox, speaking quietly between themselves about what is obviously related to Ace’s health and recent scare.

 

“Jozu,” the 5th division commander called out to his _nakama_ , who was still standing upright by the door. The man didn’t budge, however, even when he called for his name again.

 

“I should’ve noticed,”

 

Jozu was a man whose expression was hard to guess, but Vista had known him for over 20 years, and the moment he approached closer and saw the paramecia’s expression, he immediately knew the man was brooding, “He was off, but he kept telling me he was fine, so i believed him,” he shook his head, mouth pulled into a grim line, “I shouldn’t have,”

 

“It’s not like you could’ve known,”

 

“But i should’ve,” the armoured man insisted, his jaw biting down hard in his conviction, “Marco trusted me to,”

 

Vista gave him a long stare, and sighed.

 

With Pops and Amox still talking and not paying attention to them, Vista moved closer, leaning against the same wall right across of Jozu. He smacked his lips together, stringing proper words together in his mind before he spoke, “We’re all excited about this development,” he said quietly, carefully watching his friend’s expression, “But i think in our excitement, we all forget that for once, we are also out of our depths,”

 

A brief silence ensues between them, before Jozu let out a deep rumbling sound from his throat. It sounded like an agreement to Vista, but it was vague enough that he can’t be sure.

 

When Jozu still didn’t budge, Vista patted him by the shoulder, pushing slightly against the muscled mass, “Come on, the doc’ll let us in sometime soon. You can say whatever it is you need to later,”

 

He suspected everyone will do the same, after all.

 

* * *

 

The news that Ace would be alright has obviously spread, and while the unbearable tension from early that morning was reduced significantly, there’s still some concerns floating by, especially when none of them has yet to see the expecting Omega. In the middle of the dining room earlier, Haruta was the most vocal about this, and if Thatch hadn’t been busying himself brainstorming with most of his subordinates about coming up with healthy menu for Ace, Vista suspected that the chef would be joining that particular crowd.

 

As it is, before he left, he saw the Beta swordsman conversing rather loudly with Ace’s ex-first mate. A kindred spirit in their concern over a mutual friend, he supposed.

 

Looking away from the door before him, the Alpha turned to the man next to him, “What did you think they wanted to talk about with us?”

 

Jozu gave him a half-hearted shrug, but then Vista didn’t expect anything else. The commander had been quiet the whole day - more so than usual - and he suspected the only reason why he noticed was because he had taken to tailing him around. It wasn’t all that hard to do, considering that Jozu had spent his afternoon by the deck, and once dinner rolled by, stayed by the dining area in a less crowded space.

 

He was even still quiet when one of the nurses told them that Marco wished to meet them in the infirmary. Being quiet was obviously necessary if they don’t want the others to know that they’re on their way out to visit Ace, but now, this is just silly.

 

With another sigh, he made his way over to the door and walked in, knowing that Jozu will follow right behind him.

 

The curtain over Ace’s bed was pulled all the way now, giving Vista a clear sight of Marco sitting by Ace’s bedside, one hand clasped around the younger’s while he was hunched over the younger as they spoke in soft murmurs. The blonde looked up as they made their way over, and with Marco out of the way, Vista felt like he could take a deep and relieved sigh at the sight of Ace being awake, a bit livelier, no longer pale yet still seemed rather tired, but awake nonetheless.

 

Jozu passed him by, a hard and severe frown marring his face as he settled right next to Marco. Vista moved to the other, unoccupied side of the bed as he glanced down to Ace and smiled benignly, “Good to see that you’re up. How are you feeling?”

 

“Dizzy,” Ace told him, frowning slightly to show his discomfort. Marco’s hand, which was tangled in his hair shifted, his thumb rubbing the side of the younger’s temple and Ace leaned against the touch, eyes fluttering close again with a sigh, “Sorry for the trouble,”

 

Chuckling, the Alpha swordsman patted the Omega’s shoulder, “Not at all, Ace. Just glad that you’re fine,”

 

“You wanted to see us,” Jozu muttered, his tone mildly apprehensive. His glances towards Ace and Marco was reluctant, and Vista internally sighed.

 

“We did, thank you for coming,” With a hard exhale, Marco’s hand movement on the side of Ace’s head turned from massaging into soft petting, “Ace and i talked, and we also discussed it with Doctor Amox,” the blonde started, and Ace’s eyes gazed to the side, grey meeting blue. They quietly stared for a while to each other, like a silent communication of sorts, until Ace sighed, sound almost reluctant before he closed his eyes again, “And we decided we should at least talk to you first before making any decision or announcement,”

 

Vista frowned, uncomprehending. He couldn’t tell where this conversation might be going, or where he and Jozu had any part in this asked, “What about?”

 

“About the near future,” Marco began, the hand holding Ace’s own tightening considerably, “With the pregnancy to think about, it would be best for Ace to focus more on his health than his responsibility—“

 

“Eventually,”

 

It was quick, but Vista caught Marco rolling his eyes, “Right. Eventually, _very soon_ ,” Immediately, Ace opened his eyes to send a weak glower to his mate, but Marco already moved his gaze to the other two men in the room. Vista wanted to laugh at the small and subtle exchange, letting out a small snicker disguised as a cough, “It might be best for him to temporarily let go of his commander duties,”

 

Though he wasn’t quite expecting that, Vista knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, so he nodded in understanding the words that has yet to be spoken,“You wanted us to help take over his duties in the mean time,”

 

Marco nodded, and after a heavy sigh, so did Ace, “Can’t think of anyone we’d trust more but the two of you to take over when,” the dark haired male groaned, “When i’m going to have to take a leave,”

 

Vista laughed at the young Omega’s words and palpable reluctance. Ah yes, he is quite proud of his current position, “Of course i’ll be happy to. I’ll make sure your division is in top shape by the time you’re ready to come back to them,” he gave Ace a small wink, which made the younger smile.

 

Next to him, Marco turned away from them, “Jozu?” he addressed the fourth silent man in the room, who gave him no reply. After a while, the blonde sighed, “I’m not forcing the two of you, of course. If you don’t want the added responsibility, i completely understa—“

 

“You’d still trust me, Ace?”

 

The addressed party seems rather taken back for being, well, addressed, “Well, of course. Why won’t i?”

 

Jozu crossed his arms, his grim expression became even darker, “I can’t even take care of you properly, like i promised to,” he pressed his lips into a thin line, face almost ashamed, “I didn’t even notice your condition until you fainted and even then, i wasn’t there,”

 

At his answer, Vista sighed. Jozu broods easily, despite his stoic exterior, and he took to failure harder than any he ever know. That an Alpha, especially one who so jealously guards his mate and unborn child, would trust said mate to another Alpha regardless of his instinct shows tremendous faith, and Jozu probably felt honour bound by that. It wasn’t just that both Ace and Marco were his _nakama,_ it was also that he had earned their trust, and he failed to meet their expectations.

 

On the bed, Ace scoffed, breaking the silence, “First of, it was this guy,” he slapped Marco’s arm, who hissed in surprise, “who pawns me off for people to take care of as if i can’t look after myself,”

 

Ignoring Marco’s protest, the freckled logia huffed, eyes softening once they met Jozu’s again, “Besides, i’m not expecting you to be there every time, but any other time, you really watched out for me. And while i’m really glad everyone’s happy about this,” Ace placed a hand on top of the small protruding belly underneath the thin blanket that covers him, and unable to help himself, Vista found his eyes following suit. Though still barely noticeable, lying down and with the sheets pressed down, the bulge was more pronounced, and he was briefly distracted from the proceeding conversation due to wonder, “They can get a bit enthusiastic. You helped me plenty of times through that too,”

 

Ace grinned, cheery and reassuring, “You really looked after me plenty, so why won’t i trust you?”

 

As Ace kept slowly caressing his stomach, he nearly missed it when Jozu let out a gruff grunt, “If you say so,”

 

He doesn’t sound like he truly believed what Ace said, but he accepted the request nonetheless.

 

On their way out - carefully making sure no one saw them exiting as not to cause unnecessary ruckus - however, Vista saw that there’s a small smile etched on Jozu’s lips and his gait all the way back to their neighbouring quarters were a lot more lighter.

 

* * *

 

“I was so scared,”

 

It wasn’t the first time he uttered those words since he first woke up, but Marco’s voice became increasingly smaller as he does and now, it was only above a whisper that Ace only caught before of their close proximity.

 

Ace opened his eyes, his sight immediately going where Marco had rested his head on a small corner part on his pillow. Gingerly, Ace lifted his hand to frame the side of his mate’s head, before shifting just enough to let his own head lean against tuft of blonde. That hand was suddenly claimed both two larger ones, held tightly and with his fingers and the back rubbed by a pair of thumbs.

 

He wanted to ask what Marco has to be scared about when everything turns out to be fine, but in a way, he understood. He still has narcolepsy issues, but with Jozu and Marco earlier on being constantly nearby and now pretty much everyone keeping their eyes on him, he didn’t have to worry about harming the baby. But narcolepsy was easy to deal with, considering that he never realized when he suddenly fell asleep.

 

Fainting like this morning was completely different. His entire body had felt like it was submerged in cold ice water all of the sudden in the middle of throwing up, and his body grew weak with no explanation. His skin crawled, his entire body a flash between hot and cold and in that very condition, his first thought had been to the life inside of him and wondering if anything was wrong with it. It may be fine now, but the fear that gripped him before he felt his eyes shutting and his spinning head shutting down was something unforgettable.

 

‘Scared’ was probably an understatement of what he’s feeling then.

 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, still blinking blearily over the constant dizziness in his head. It was at least better than before, since the doctor has given him some mild medicine to tone it down a notch. He still wished it’ll work all the way through.

 

After Doctor Amox was done with his preliminary exams and told them of his findings, Ace didn’t think there will be so many concerns involved with his current condition, that it’s not just simply the matter of ‘another human being is growing inside of his belly and will come out one day in a painful manner’. He needs to be mindful of his health in every aspect possible against the constant changing in his body, and that he’d start to have problems effectively doing what was usually normal.

 

There’s also the concerns of his devil fruit, and whether or not as a logia, using it would be harmful to the baby. He obviously could not fight anymore - the mere mention of him going into battle in his current condition already sent Marco to conniption earlier - and though he was vocally against it, even without Marco and Amox having to coax him into it, Ace knew he’d have to resign to inactivity at some point.

 

Ace may have fought against it the moment his mate mentioned it, but even he knew deep down that it was for the best.

 

They’d still have to bring it up to Pops and the other commanders to figure out how they’re going to go about with that, but considering how everyone had been acting like he’s not even allowed to lift a finger, telling them would make most agree in a heartbeat. Pops was harder to guess, but Ace remembered the little secret he had imparted, one he was sworn to keep a secret for as long as it needed to be kept, and could only guess that the old man wouldn’t exactly have any objections.

 

He felt lost as to what to do, he just knows that he’d have to do his best to keep his child alive and well until its birth. Suddenly, it didn’t matter what he wanted. If he had to put down something he took pride in, in being Pops commander and to be on the front lines just for a while for the sake of his and Marco’s child’s life, then he’s okay with it.

 

The concept of conceiving Marco’s child after he learned that he might be able to do it had been thrilling at the time, and after the confusion settled and despite his own hung ups about his ancestry, he had felt exhilarated. This baby is both of theirs, something he made together with the man he loved. But as the joy subsided and the first problem reared its head, it’s suddenly clear to Ace that it won’t be that easy. There will be sacrifices to be made, discomforts to be had, endless worries plaguing their respective minds, and in the end, it was all so clear.

 

“We’re not really prepared for any of this, are we?”

 

One of Marco’s hand released his, slowly making its way to where he rested his other hand on top of his stomach, covered by the flimsy cot’s sheets. Marco’s hand stroked the slight bump on his abdomen slowly, almost savouring what he found there, “We’ll be, by the time they come,” as if he needed to make it clearer who he was referring to, Marco’s hand once again brushed against Ace’s stomach, “I already promised you we’ll do right by them, that i’ll do right by you. Nothing will be more important to me than that,”

 

Ace linked their hands again as he nudged at Marco with the tip of his nose. When the older man looked up, he surged forward to press a kiss, just missing the centre of the lips he was aiming for. Still, Marco pressed against him harder, helping him angle their kiss a little better.

 

Once they were separated, Ace plopped his head back to the pillow, groaning at the persistent throbbing in his head. As he closed his eyes, hoping to get some more sleep to get away from it, he felt Marco moving closer to place his head back on the corner of the pillow before breathing in heavily. He’s scenting him, Ace knew Marco liked to do whenever they’re alone, and with a smile slowly turned his body over, leaving more space on the bed and tugged on the older’s hand, “Come here,”

 

Marco obeyed without a word.

 

* * *

 

When Doctor Amox returned to the infirmary not long after dinner was over, he found that the curtain had once again been pulled close around Commander Ace’s bed. He could hear shifting of fabric from behind it when he passed by, and while Commander Marco’s sitting shadow was gone, he knew for sure the man was still behind there, judging from the soft murmurs he couldn’t quite catch but suspected he shouldn’t be prying to in the first place.

 

He simply sighed, the corners of his lips rising slightly as he passed by as quietly as he could towards his desk.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt kinda bad for Jozu because his chapter was posted as a ‘feeler’ chapter of sorts so his doesn’t receive the same amount of plot building as the others, so i’m making it up to him by showing him every now and then in different chapters lol. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think so far (maybe also what you wanna see etc, because seriously, i'm having plenty of ideas on where this fic can go and it's kinda hard to chose one. You know me). 
> 
> Hope you liked it!


	6. 6th Division Commander, Blamenco the Mallet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this fic is still getting updated, yes i got writers block, no i don't know when the next update will be.
> 
> .....I am so, so sorry.

 

“Put me down for 300 Belli,”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Haven’t made my decision yet, just put my name down first,”

 

Blamenco scrunched up his lips, glancing from Rakuyo to Curiel, “Are we allowed to do that? I still haven’t made up my mind yet too,”

 

Rakuyo shrugged, taking the pouch of money from Curiel and writing his name down on the thick tome that is his ‘betting book’. From where he can see, there’s at least a couple of hundred names already, and it’s not even 2 days since the bet was first announced, “Sure, i can always add the details later. There’s a couple you can join in: The sex category, the announced due date category - different from the _actual_ date of birth category, by the way - the number of kid category—“

 

“Wait, we can also bet on the number of kids?!” Curiel interrupted, trying to take a look at the book in Rakuyo’s hand as well. He then reach into his pocket again, pulling out a larger money pouch and pulling out a handful, “Here, put me in on that. A separate one, i’m still saving up that 300 belli for another category,”

 

With the efficiency and dexterity from years of experience as the ship’s main bookie, Rakuyo took the money, counted it in mere seconds and flipped his book to the correct page in one swift movement, “Your bet?”

 

“Twins, no, just one really big kid,” The helmet wearing commander paused briefly, “No, actually, put me down for twins,”

 

Taking another peek at Rakuyo’s book would tell Blamenco that that seems to be most people’s bet as well. Haruta’s name even has it down for 4, and he made a noise of amusement from inside his throat, “Does he think Ace is having a litter or something? That can’t be right,”

 

“Haruta has never seen a pregnant person before in his life,” the bandana wearing commander snickered, “But then, you can hardly blame him, with Ace growing that fast,”

 

Which is something he won’t deny. At 4 months along - and everyone knows how far along he is because well, they all know the exact day of conception, obviously - Ace’s figure already made it clear that he’s not gaining weight out of nowhere. Not only that, several people noted that the Omega’s stomach had gotten bigger than the usual size at this stage, which led to a lot of speculations if there’s more than one baby on the way.

 

And for Marco to become even more unbearable with his worries, of course, but what else is new? These days, even Ace coughing could raise his level of stress.

 

“Yeah, but it’s a little unreasonable to put it down to having _4 babies._ He’s big, he’s not that big, just slightly larger than usual,”

 

“How would you know? Literally no one has ever been pregnant on this ship,”

 

There are other couples on board, of course, but most of them were cautious enough when it comes to their heat or rutting cycle, while Ace was a very special case. The very few cases some decided to start a family of their own, whether with another crew member or someone they met away from the ship, no one ever decided to stay to raise said family because the life of a pirate wasn’t really suited for it.

 

Blamenco highly doubt that Marco and Ace would ever give up life on board of Moby Dick for anything, and that would also mean their little growing family would be the very first one the entire ship could observe closely.

 

“Just use common sense, moron. Babies are like, what, this big?” Curiel demonstrated by framing both of his hands, putting the distance between them barely wider than his chest. He then puts them in front of his abdomen and moved them backwards, a vague measurement that’s supposed to be an indication of the size he was going for, “So if there’s like 4 of them, that’ll be this big and Ace is way smaller than that. Well, not much smaller,” the artillery expert pulled his hands closer, but not so much so, “Maybe, like this?”

 

“That’s way too big,” Blamenco found himself protesting, trying to recall the last time he saw Ace this morning during breakfast, “Just a couple inches more and you’re good,”

 

Curiel obliged, moving his hands and stopping just shy of what his fellow commander has said, “This big?”

 

“It’s not just the baby weight, i reckon he filled out a bit more than that,” Rakuyo piped up, waving his pencil and wagging it around, “He’s wearing a shirt, so it’s pretty hard to tell but i caught him after shower once. It’s like uh, maybe just about the size of someone’s head?”

 

“Who’s head? If it’s yours, then i might have to change my bet to triplets,”

 

“Fuck you, Curiel, you got no room to talk,”

 

Blamenco snickered at Rakuyo’s ire, but then exchanges like this between these two were common. Almost as common as Pops being caught having one of the rookies sneaking him alcohol, or someone being kicked by a nurse’s sharp heel for disobeying medical restrictions, or before all of this, Marco trying to discreetly stare and ogle at Ace not knowing that everyone could see him doing it. That routine is of course now traded with the Alpha charging anyone who invaded his beloved mate’s proximity and personal space and stayed for too long.

 

Depending on who you might be, one could be worse than the other.

 

He would put himself as one of the people who was glad for the latter; Marco from months ago was _pathetic,_ there’s no other way to describe it. He had never seen anyone moon over something so badly, and literally everyone has to watch that pitiful sight without any choice.

 

This Marco, however, while most would say was a pain to deal with - enough that if he should thwart Thatch and Haruta’s attempt to have Ace and the baby for themselves again, there would be an inter-commander war - as a fellow Alpha, Blamenco actually admired his dedication. Keeping nosey individuals away were just one of the few things Marco had gone extra lengths to do for Ace, and any other time, when he’s not maintaining his own division or any duties on board, he’d be ready to fulfil anything Ace might want.

 

Not that Ace seems to want or need a lot of things, but a chair would be conjured out of nowhere when the young commander felt even slightly tired, Blamenco had seen him around the bathroom and medical bay while Ace was there when he knew for sure the blond had been on another side of the ship a while ago, and for any wish that Ace might have, he’s on top of it. No one on board would ever forget that moment a couple of weeks ago, when Marco disappeared for half a day and came back in his phoenix form, flying to the deck carrying a giant Rainbow Shark because apparently Ace said he had it once and wanted it for dinner that night.

 

They were near Sabaody then. Rainbow Shark’s habitat were in the edge of West Blue.

 

He always thought of it as rather romantic, really, but then he’s always been a sucker for those sorts of things and there’s not quite enough of it in this sort of high-seas life.

 

“Man, i’m jealous of them,” The banter next to him faded to nothing, and at Curiel’s eyebrow quirk, Blamenco shrugged, “It just seems to nice, having someone you can care for that much and be near them all the time. Someone to warm your bed at night, someone to share intimate and secret moments with. All the couples on this ship are really lucky,”

 

When no one answered him, the plump man turned to his two _nakama,_ briefly catching the them glancing at each other silently, “What, you guys don’t think so?”

 

“No, no,” Rakuyo was the first one to answer, shaking his head and turning back to his book. He began scribbling along some of the names, though what exactly the Alpha was writing Blamenco couldn’t tell, “Just uh, well. Forget about it,”

 

In front of him, Curiel grunted in agreement. Blamenco glanced between the two of them, frowning in confusion.

 

How weird.

 

Shrugging, the 6th Divison commander glanced down, finding that Curiel still had his arms in the exact same position for their previous discussion. He held the man by the wrist to pull it further, making the gap between the helmet wearing Alpha’s hands and abdomen wider, “Okay, i think this is just about right,”

 

“I still think he’s a bit bigger than that,” Rakuyo said again, his previous silence forgotten, as he reach up and pulled Curiel’s arms to the side slightly, “There, we’re forgetting the width of his stomach. Now that looks a lot more accurate,”

 

Curiel cocked his head to the side, grumbling a little, before moving his arms again, “Nah, i still think Ace is probably about this bi—“

 

“I’m not that fat,”

 

The three commander jumped almost simultaneously at the new voice, and snapped their head to the source, to find Ace standing just a couple of feet away. The logia’s lips were quivering and his eyes were suspiciously shiny with tears, tears that started to drop from the corner of his eyes as he cross both of his arms in front of his bulging stomach, “I’m not that fat, am i?” he started to sob, “I know i’m getting fat, but the Doc said it’s normal, but i didn’t think i’m _that_ fat,”

 

In intense panic, all three commander broke into stammers and consolation - though at least Rakuyo remembered to hide his book away, the book that has someone basically saying they thought _Ace was carrying 4_ \- crowding around the sobbing Omega commander, “No, no, no, no, we didn’t think you’re fat at all! This was— Curiel, you moron, why would you say Ace is fat?!”

 

“I didn’t say any of the sort!And why are you blaming me?! You’re the one who started mentioning about width and shit!”

 

“Ace, we swear, we did not say that at all, we’re just talking—“

 

But no matter what they say, the younger kept sniffling and sobbing quietly with his arms wrapped around his stomach - which, in a hindsight, was smaller than any of their guess - unwilling to even look up to face them. And to make things ever worse, there were footsteps approaching, accompanied by a familiar and dreaded voice calling out, “Ace?”

 

Blamenco caught the exact moment all three men around Ace grew pale, their heads mechanically turning to see Marco at the end of the hallway, the commander’s face turning from confusion to wrath in a split second.

 

Never had those blue healing flames seem even more menacing and threatening than when they surrounded an enraged Alpha at the sight of their Omega in apparent distress. With the culprits that caused said distress still in sight.

 

_“What have you done to Ace?!”_

 

“N-no! We didn’t—“

 

“Blamenco you idiot, why are you still talking?! Fucking run!”

 

“Marco,” a voice called out in the flurry of motion, meek and sad, “Am i really getting fat?”

 

“Running!”

 

* * *

 

There is one thing that none of the Pocket Tribe’s people liked, and that is anyone using their unique genetical ability to store anything without their knowledge. Which is why Blamenco had always abhorred the pranks that involved putting unknown items inside of his body pockets, especially when it is easily perishable items like food. Sure, his people’s ability allowed them to carry just about anything, but it’s never fun to open his own holes to realize there’s a rotting banana that had been causing his unpleasant body odour.

 

And to be honest, he himself loathe to carry anything but his mallet and other types of weaponry inside of him - contrary to popular belief, his body pockets are _not_ limitless - yet right now, he had at least 30 different types of food boxes shuffling together around his choice of weapon and it’s honestly getting a little too uncomfortable.

 

But he’d feel a hell lot more uncomfortable if he left things the way it was, and that was why he’s currently sitting on the edge of the quarterdeck, pocket filled to the brim with every boxes of food for Ace’s lunch while the Omega ate quietly in front of him.

 

Glancing into the current box in Ace’s hand, he reach into his pocket to pull out another box of food, this time filled with 3 racks of ribs, “Here you go,”

 

Ace looked up from the box of food in his hand, some sort of steamed grain and berries that was a part of his new diet from Thatch. It didn’t look appetizing at all yet he ate with gusto, but then again, that’s Ace with just about every food. He finished off the last spoonful, eyeing the new box and then Blamenco himself warily, “I don’t feel like eating meat right now,”

 

Is what he said, but his expression and the way he inched closer to the box said otherwise, “Ace, i’m really, really sorry. None of us said you’re fat, you’re pregnant, you’re eating for two. It was,” he paused, trying to search for the right word, but in the end could only come up with, “It was Rakuyo and Curiel being stupid, okay? Ignore them. Eat what you want,”

 

With one last hesitant look, the box was taken from his hand. The smell of herbs and spices filled the room once the lid was pried open, and while Blamenco took in a deep breath - he’s feeling hungry after seeing so many food, okay? - he heard Ace sighed and say, “I’m sorry for being so irrational. I know you didn’t mean it, but i still felt so upset,” he murmured, pulling one of the set of ribs out and taking his first bite, “I’ve been feeling like that lately too. It’s like, one moment i’ll be fine, but then it’s… it’s not, you know?”

 

Yes, in fact the whole entire ship had known of this. Hormones.

 

The very same reason why Ace could one second laughed along with the crew over some silly joke and suddenly crying the next because they shouldn’t have said that to the poor soul. Or why he could be laughing and playing around with Stefan one moment but then started getting teary because the dog’s fur was ‘too soft’. Hell, at least the crying doesn’t take any victim, but his anger does. One of the oldest rugs in the Commander’s Meeting room has to be thrown away after he burned it in a fit of rage over something Haruta said.

 

And that’s not saying what it had done to Marco.

 

The box of ribs was suddenly placed down, and Ace turned to him, “Hey, can you tell me the truth? Do you think people are getting fed up with my attitude? Do you all think my outbursts are annoying? Are you all getting sick of me?”

 

“Uh,” was all Blamenco could say seconds after he opened his mouth, flabbergasted by the series of seemingly out of nowhere question. And that Ace’s eyes are getting teary again, “I… uh, well, no—“

 

“You do, don’t you?” the second the tears started running again, the blue-clad commander frantically looked around, paranoid of any incoming blue blur that will once again pick him up and toss him around as punishment. But all thoughts about Marco was chased away when Ace suddenly surged forward, still crying, dropping the food on his lap and pulling Blamenco to a loose embrace, his swollen bely pressing against the commander’s own, “I’m sorry, okay? I can’t help it. I don’t like… i don’t like being like this, i don’t usually cry, you know that right? But everything made me cry or mad, and i know i’m annoying a lot of people and especially Marco, but i swear i didn’t mean to,”

 

“No, no, no, no, Ace, we’re not—“

 

“And i felt like i’m a burden to everyone, you know? Jozu, Vista and Thatch has extra work because of me, i’ve been breaking stuff around Moby because i kept getting angry, and Marco, Marco has to deal with me being like this every day and i’m so scared that he’s going to think it’s all not worth it, and he’s going to hate me, i don’t know what to do if he hates me, Blamenco. He looked so tired these days, and what if he got fed up with me— What if you all got fed up with me and abandon me, i can’t— Please, don’t hate me, if you guys hate me too, i won’t be able to—“

 

To hell if Marco sees them. The Alpha and most importantly, the brother in Blamenco refused to let someone else stop him from comforting this trembling body, his _nakama_ holding on to him, even if that person is the Alpha mate of this Omega. He shushed Ace gently, running his hand down from the crown of his head and to the middle his back, “Don’t think like that, okay?” he said softly, almost whispering to the still wailing man, “We all understood, Ace, we all get it and none of us is holding it against you. We know how hard these last few weeks has been for you, and trust me, no one, absolutely no one in this ship feels like that,”

 

And he’s not just saying that. The reason why it was so easy for him to ask Thatch for Ace’s food and bring it out here is because there is a major preparation in the kitchen right now for a party tonight, celebrating the end of Ace’s first trimester. This was planned for weeks on end, ever since the end of the last party, a belated celebration of the pregnancy announcement itself. The entire preparation was big and rowdy enough he had to take Ace away to this rather secluded place so he won’t find out until the moment of reveal.

 

“You don’t think i’m a burden? You’re not sick of me, or got fed up by me?”

 

Considering there is an ongoing war between several _divisions_ about who may be given an important, Ace-and-baby related responsibility next, he’d highly doubt that. Jozu and Thatch’s divisions are out and forever gloating over the fact that they have an important role in the ongoing pregnancy in their midst, and there is a very loud and controversial debate right now that Vista might be given some sort of similar duty by Marco though no one knows it yet.

 

The thought of ‘more work’ and ‘annoyance’ never really comes up their mind, he’d say. In fact, it had been Pops who laid down the rule of keeping their incessant fighting away from Ace and Marco, not wanting to stress out the new parents even more. And also solved another never ending debate of who gets to babysit the baby first once they’re born by deciding that as GrandPops - his words, not anyone else’s - he gets to babysit first.

 

That was probably the closest this entire ship has come to a mutiny.

 

At the thought of his the ship’s entirely ridiculous behaviours, Blamenco chuckled, snaking the hand from Ace’s back down to the side of the stomach pressing on to his. This child is already so loved, he thought, they’ll be so overwhelmed by the time they actually arrived.

 

“I don’t know how you ever get the idea that we’d ever get sick, or even hate you,” the rotund Alpha said with a smile, glad to find that the sobbing against his shoulder has quieted down, “Trust me, ask everyone, we all care for you, for the baby, and we’d all love to help out as much as we can,”

 

Understatement of the century.

 

It was Ace who pulled back first, still sniffling but at least he wasn’t crying as hard as before. His eyes were bloodshot and nose stuffed, evident from the violently wet and noisy way he inhaled. Blamenco pursed his lips and reached into his pocket, rummaging between his ever-present mallet and the boxes of food to look for a handkerchief he swore he had somewhere.

 

“And what about…,” Ace murmured just when he could feel his finger brushing against the soft surface of the handkerchief, “What about Marco? Do you think he’s getting tired of me?”

 

“Absolutely not,” and this is an even easier thing to answer, “Do you see the kind of things he would do for you? The amount of hoops and obstacle he’d jump through if you as much as ask him?” Because he’s pretty sure everyone else has, “That man loves you to the moon and back. You, your baby, I think out of anyone at all, it’s him you should never doubt,”

 

Ace bowed his head down, hair moving to cover a part of his face, “I don’t want to be a burden for him. I don’t… i don’t like relying on someone so much and make him do all the heavy lifting,”

 

“I don’t know, looks to me you’re doing your own kind of heavy lifting here,” a playful grin made its way to the 6th division’s commander, as he moved his hand on the side of Ace’s waist, rubbing slightly on the swell. From behind the curtain of fringes, he could see the corner of Ace’s lips lifting up slightly, and took it as a win.

 

Until the younger commander’s face suddenly scrunch up again, and he began to let out a pained keening sound while placing both of his hands around his stomach, “I knew it, i am heavy!”

 

“It’s a figure of speech! It’s a figure of speech, i didn’t really mean that you’re heavy! Oh have mercy! I’m probably still heavier than you, it’s not— Ow! Ow! Ow!”

 

“Blamenco?”

 

The Pocket Tribesman grimaced, still keeping on hand on Ace’s shoulder but putting his other one on his back, the source of the persistent aching that he hadn’t dared to voice out until he moved too quickly earlier. A hand reach out to his shoulder, forcing him to turn around on his seat to show his back, and more importantly, the rather large and drying scratch that’s very visible on his pale skin to Ace. The logia let out a choked gasp, “What happened?! Why are you injured?”

 

Oh, he didn’t like ratting people out like this, but the surprisingly strong pair of hands on his back forced him to turn around again, facing a still teary eyed but now visibly angry Ace, “Who hurt you! Did…did you get attacked like Thatch did? Did someone else—“

 

“No, it was,” he groaned, scratching his nape and considering whether or not it’s a good idea actually telling Ace, “It’s Marco. It was from earlier when he chased me around, i fell down and he caught me with his talons,”

 

“Marco did this?!” Ace wasn’t exactly spitting fire, but the rage in his voice made little difference, “I already told him not to be too rough or he’s going to to hurt someone— Wait, then why are you here? Why didn’t you go the infirmary and have that taken care off?!”

 

Because Doctor Amox’s method of healing every wound is by calling Marco and having him use his healing on them. And for obvious reasons, Blamenco is not sure of his own safety in the Zoan’s hands right now.

 

“I’m taking you to the infirmary and have Marco apologize to you,” suddenly, Blamenco was pulled up to his feet, and along with the abrupt motion, he could feel the food boxes inside of him jostling around.

 

Oh, he hoped nothing spilled, it’ll be a pain to wash.

 

…Probably not as painful as his imminent ‘treatment’ is going to be though.

 

* * *

 

“No more throwing your _nakama_ around or tossing them into water!”

 

“But Ace—“

 

“No more! Someone could get seriously injured and you’re going to have to deal with them,” Ace’s fire had been scarcely seen ever since the first time they all found out he was carrying - not until they could figure out if it’s dangerous for the baby or not - and while he technically does not use them, the brightness in his angrily frowned eyes could be mistaken as licks of flames, “I already told you, i’m fine with people being around me, you don’t have to go overboard all the time!”

 

With a face that clearly showed disappointment and reluctance, Marco nodded.

 

Just like that, the tight coils of anger suddenly left Ace, and gingerly, he took a step forward to frame his disappointed mate’s face between his hands and pulling him close to that their foreheads could touch, “Well, maybe if someone is a bit too clingy,”

 

The smile was back on Marco’s face, affectionate yet sharp, and that sent down chills down the back of everyone present.

 

Blamenco quickly looked away from them and to the rest of the ongoing party, taking a sip from his beer. The 4th Division had really outdone themselves with the amount of food coming out of the kitchen and decoration wise, the 16th Division has his respect. There’s an entire section of food that could only be touched by Ace but everything else is fair game, including some of their best wines and rums. He overheard from Dalli, one of his subordinates earlier that there has been some debate about whether or not alcohol is appropriate for a party celebrating pregnancy milestone, until they all agree that while Ace couldn’t drink, _Marco_ could use some.

 

Hey, just because he told Ace everyone didn’t mind his fluctuating hormones, doesn’t mean they don’t feel some semblance of sympathy for Marco for having to deal with them on a daily basis.

 

It was in the middle of his idle observation did Blamenco caught a hint of yellow, and after a few seconds, he was finally sure of who it is. Irritation boiled in his chest as he stomped over and sure enough, found both Rakuyo and Curiel on one corner, leaning on the wall, “Thanks a lot for leaving me behind,” he immediately say upon arriving, not bothering to hide the vitriol in his tone, “Do you know how nauseating it is to be tossed to the air a couple of times?”

 

“Oh, shut it, he got us too,” Curiel groused, taking several large gulps from his tankard, “Pinpoint us down with _Kebunshoku Haki_ and then kicked us and the crate we hid in with _Busoshoku_. Thank heavens that man is not a _Haoshoku_ user or we’d be dead by then,”

 

Besides him, Rakuyo nodded solemnly, rubbing the side of his head, “At least he’s gracious enough to heal us after,” the dreadlocked-wearing man commented, before tilting his head up, “Heard you offered to be the one to distract Ace from the surprise party. Good job,”

 

“I wanted to apologize for something i got in trouble with because of you two. Poor Ace was crying his eyes out,” Blamenco harrumphed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He then grinned, and with an edge of gloating, said, “I got to touch the baby bump,”

 

Both Rakuyo and Curiel looked up to him, eyes bugged wide, “How?”

 

“Just went for it,” Okay, it’s a bit more… melancholic than that, but he didn’t think it was right to mention what he was talking about with Ace earlier to anyone.

 

“And Marco didn’t give you a new shiner?”

 

“He was away catching the Giraphant,” he nodded to the table of ‘Food for Ace’, to the steaming plate of the giant, fatty beast. Its long neck was made into the soup place next to the giant plate, while the trunk was cooked separately, specially for some exotic cooking only Thatch knew and Ace seems to be reacting well to earlier, “So nope,”

 

Rakuyo peeked at the direction Blamenco thought Ace and Marco must be, jealousy palpable on his features, while Curiel simply grumbled ‘lucky bastard’ under his breath.

 

“Blamenco,”

 

At the sound of someone calling him, the commander turned to find Ace walking towards him, a small smile on his lips as he asked, “Can i talk to you for a moment?”

 

Of course, he wouldn’t say no, but even as he walked away, he could feel Rakuyo and Curiel’s eyes boring holes on him. Ace led him near one of the quieter part of the party, which was appropriately enough, near a chair placed there specifically for Ace to rest, right next to the tables filled with food specially for him. Marco was standing close by, right next to a plate filled to the brim with assortments of food that he could guess what Ace’s before he suddenly decided to look for Blamenco.

 

Strangely enough, Ace gave Marco a quick glance before he spoke, lowering his voice slightly, “Um, i wanted to thank you about earlier. You know, for listening to me and cheering me up,”

 

A smile bloomed on the older commander’s face, one that turns into a grin, “It’s no biggie, Ace. I’m happy to help,”

 

“I just.. now that things kinda settled down, i realized i said a lot of weird things,” the logia sighed, looking a little embarrassed, “I mean, i…,”

 

When Ace didn’t say anything further but started glancing to Marco again, Blamenco felt like he knew what the younger wanted to talk about, “Listen,” he waited until Ace turned his attention back to him, and levelled to the young man a stern look, and motioned to the rest of the ship, where the crew mingled, “If i feel like i can speak for these guys, it’s because i’ve been involved in every ridiculousness they came up with when it comes to you and the baby,”

 

He glanced to Marco, a bit relieved the blond commander was too busy finishing his drink to notice. Or maybe he purposefully did that, because the way Marco angled his body was as if he pointedly avoids seeing them or let them see him. It wouldn’t really surprise him if the man was told by his mate not to eavesdrop, “But i can’t tell you what Marco is thinking. I _know_ he loves you deeply, i _know_ he’ll do anything for you and his kid, but that’s because i can see it. But anything else, you have to talk to him. He’s your mate and you’re his. That’s a special bond between you two that only you can understand,”

 

Ace took in a shaky breath, before exhaling slowly.

 

The rotund man smiled at this, and patted the side of Ace’s shoulder as gently as he could. He highly doubt that Ace was just ‘saying weird things’ in the height of his hormonal tantrum earlier. Even if Ace has come a long way since his days as Pops’ persistent assassin and become an invaluable family member, he could observe that there are still something he’s hesitant about, a degree of companionship he hadn’t dare to look and hope for just yet. Granted, everyone else around him knew each other for years, even decades, but they love Ace like one of their own, and he’s not the only one who wished the logia would quickly find his comfort amongst them.

 

“Hey,” he called out, just loud enough to gain Ace’s attention, “If you ever need someone to talk to again, if you got things in your mind you can’t tell anyone or can’t even tell Marco, just come find me any time, okay?”

 

He wasn’t surprised to see Ace looking hesitant at his offer, so he pushed, “I won’t tell anyone, i can keep secrets like i keep stuff in my pocket,” Blamenco winked, prompting Ace to laugh lightly, “Let’s do it again, just you and me on a quiet corner on the quarterdeck, i’ll bring you plenty of food in my pocket and you can tell me anything until your mouth felt like falling off,”

 

This time, Ace laughed harder, and behind him, Blamenco could see Marco turning around curiously. Overprotective bastard.

 

Ace’s eyes was shining when he lifted his head, and instead of feeling the same shock he had whenever he saw the Omega like that today, Blamenco only felt relieved, as if he had done something right, “Thank you. Really,”

 

His reply was simply a gentle and affectionate pat on the head for Ace, his dear little brother.

 

He was about to turn around, when Blamenco caught sight of Rakuyo and Curiel still in the same corner and watching them with curious glances. Still feeling rather vindictive, he said, “Hey, Ace, mind if i ask you a little favour?”

 

The younger blinked, before nodding, “Think i could uh, think i could touch your belly again?”

 

Seems like he said it a bit louder than he expected, but Marco turned around again, this time with his whole body, and narrowed his eyes. It took a burst of courage and the need for some revenge that Blamenco ignored the Zoan, as Ace said, “Sure. It’s just um, i ate a lot, i swear, they didn’t get bigger out of nowhere,”

 

“I understand, Ace, don’t worry,” he said off handedly, and placed his hands on the side of the bulge underneath the loose shirt Ace wore, feeling the unmistakable hardness underneath soft skin. Momentarily, he forgot his own ploy of vengeance in favour of being mystified by the feeling - there’s a living being under that skin, growing and _alive -_ and he placed another hand on the side, running his hand from the bottom to the side of Ace’s waist, “Oh wow,”

 

Above him, he could hear Ace chuckle.

 

But that’s about all he heard.

 

Slowly, Blamenco look up, and found much to his shock that everyone in the party was staring at him, their faces stuck in various degree of shock, disbelief, and most commonly, outrage.

 

Somewhere in the middle of the crowd, a shrill voice that sounded suspiciously like Haruta shouted, “He broke the sacred rule of no touching!”

 

“Guys?” Ace called out in confusion, “What’s going on? Why’s everyone looking at me?”

 

“Not you, Ace. Blamenco,” Somewhere on the side Marco replied, voice very casual. Too casual, and with a hint of amusement and even satisfaction. The absolute sadist, “He just got himself in deep shit. Come here, why don’t you sit and eat with me and avoid the splash zone?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Blamenco the Mallet, he never got enough screen time. 
> 
> Keep this ‘un-parted’ because still considering whether the next part is still going to be him or if i’m moving on Rakuyo. The way it’s going now, it’s going to be Blamenco again, but it’s just the matter of flow, really.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Right then, just like how the predecessor and original inspiration of this fic is the first time i wrote something like that, this is also the first time i write something like this! So, tell me what you think and thank you so much for reading! Hope you liked it!


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